Voyagers Saga: Trials and Retributions
by Cydra
Summary: After uncovering a scandalizing and inhumane project, the gang find themselves under the glare of authority on false accusations. And not only is much dark magic stirring up, but there are plenty of people who'll want to keep them quiet, by any means necessary. Takes place directly after Null Chi.
1. Chapter 1

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 1**

Considering the fiasco that the gang had endured on their last mission, the vote was pretty much unanimous amongst the crew to head back to their Earth to try and recuperate. Unfortunately, getting back was easier said than done.

...

Matt winced as the North Star shook from another hit. Their pursuer, an NSC police cruiser, fired again, trying to disable the Lynches' ship.

"Is it too much to ask to be left alone while traveling?" snapped Matt.

"North Star, this is your final warning. Kill your engines and prepare to be boarded," said the voice of the police cruiser's captain, coldly

"Hey Stitch, is the hyperdrive operational?" asked Matt.

"Matt, I don't think we should warp with them so close to us," said Chloe.

"Oh, ok...it was just an idea. How far are we from GF territory?" said Matt, sounding disappointed.

"Uh, a few dozen lightyears," said Chloe, "Of course, everything is relative in outer space."

"Fine..." began Matt before another hit knocked him off his feet. "WHAT HAPPENED TO WARNING?" he yelled.

"Wasn't the last warning supposed to be the final one?" asked Kala.

"They always say that...they don't usually mean it," said Matt miserably

"Whatever idea you have, you better do it fast," said Chloe, "Those guys are taking off their kid gloves."

"Screw it...jump us outta here before we're smears!" yelled Matt into the intercom.

"Matt, are you sure that's a good-" started Techo.

"No time for second guessing!" snapped Matt, "Just hit the hyperdrive!"

The North Star glowed before shooting through into warp, leaving the security ship floundering...and emerging right into the middle of a GF security fleet.

"Great navigation, Matt," said Chloe sarcastically.

"What? The GF isn't after us," said Matt, "There's no need to worry."

Kala pointed slowly out the porthole. "Are we sure?" she said weakly, pointing to a fleet of GF police fighters.

"Relax, we just happened to stumble across one of their patrols," said Matt, "It's not like we have wanted fugitives that they'd be... NegaMorph's record has been cleared, right?"

"They're hailing us. They're here to escort us to earth...for tribunal," said a trooper, listening at the comms.

Matt smacked his head into the console. "Can this get any worse?"

Just then, NegaMorph walked in, apparently foaming at the mouth. "Ok, who's the wise guy who jumped warp without warning?" he snapped.

Matt gulped as everyone pointed at him...

...

Neilson was standing in the hanger at CPS HQ, glaring at the dragon councilors. He still didn't trust much dragons, if only because they let Matt be in their little club. It seemed the feeling was mutual judging from the glares he was getting. But he had bigger fish to tackle today. Matt's ship will escorted here any minute now. "You sure your little voodoo will keep Matt on earth?" he said rudely

"It certainly will," said one of the councilors, "Once worn, this Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort will keep Matt from leaving New York, let alone Earth."

"It'd better. Council's in arms about this. Last thing we need is Lynch skipping town," said Neilson.

"Assuming your men can get him here long enough for us to put the Voodoo Anklet on in the first place," said another councilor.

"They're not my men. They're some jokers from the Galactic Federation," said Neilson icily.

Just then, the sound of jet engines caught their ears as Matt's ship was seen flying down, flanked by two Galactic Federation ships. "Huh, least they're on time. Ok, let's get this done," said Neilson, gloomily as he landed, waving to two troopers to take position

The North Star soon landed in the hanger and its cargo door started to open up. As soon as it was open enough, Matt was suddenly flying out and landed roughly in front of the councilors. "That'll teach you to jump warp while I'm trying to use mouthwash!" snapped NegaMorph's voice.

Matt got up unsteadily to find two blaster rifles aimed at him. "Captain, a pleasure to see you again," said Neilson, coldly, "You're under arrest."

"Listen, I don't know what baloney McNeil's been trying to sell, but I haven't been doing anything wrong, except being caught snooping around his illegal genetic experimenting facility," said Matt.

Neilson sighed before saying, "Look, between you and me, I believe you, but McNeil's the council golden boy and after the Avalar massacre at the defense cannon, I'm not."

"Trust me, McNeil is up to something really nasty and you shouldn't- Whoa, whoa, whoa, did you say I was right?" asked Matt, "I mean, I tend to mishear people, especially after being thrown around and-" A sudden click and a pressure on Matt's ankle got his attention. He looked down to see what looked like a brass anklet snapped onto his leg. "Hey, what gives?" he asked.

"You under house arrest till the trial. You leave New York and there are 3 Black 13 teams with orders to terminate you if you do...and that thing'll make sure you're in no state to fight back," said Neilson.

"What? But I thought you believed me!" said Matt.

"True, but that doesn't mean I like you," said Neilson.

"So what's this do?" said Matt, icily.

"The further away you move from New York City, the more uncomfortable the Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort will become," said one of the councilors.

"You gotta be joking," said Matt skeptically

"I see a brief demonstration is in order," said the councilor before moving a hand over the anklet, which started glowing green. The dragon head on the anklet immediately came to life and started nipping him.

"What the fu? YOW...Hey...stop it!" he said helplessly.

Another wave of the hand and the anklet stopped glowing. "It can get much worse than that, especially if you try to leave Earth," said the councilor.

"How worse?" said Matt weakly.

"Your leg could snap in two," said another councilor.

Matt went white at that before noticing something, "Hey...why am I the only one wearing one?"

"Well, er, we only have one right now," said one of the councilors, "Some of them have become too tarnished to use and the rest are being used for other house arrestees. And since you're the captain if your crew, you take the most of the punishment."

Matt just sighed. "I hate my job," he muttered

"Also, we are confiscating your ship," said Neilson, "Can't take any chances that you'd chew your own leg off and try to escape."

"Oh no, you're not touching her," glared Matt before yelping as the anklet nipped him

"Standard procedure," said Neilson, "Don't worry; we won't be touching your possessions inside. They're probably too encrusted with filth to remove anyways."

"The bots won't let you aboard, will they?" said Matt smugly.

"If you're referring to those metal spiders, they've been making themselves more of a nuisance than usual," said Neilson.

Suddenly, there was a roaring sound and Morph ran out of the ship yelling, "Run for your lives! It came from beneath the refrigerator!"

Matt and Neilson watched as Morph ran by. Neilson said gloomily, "Ok, you win...but hand over the starter chip."

Matt reluctantly fished around his pockets for it. "Uh, where am I supposed to stay if I can't use my ship?" he asked.

"NSC safehouse," said Neilson, throwing a keycard over.

Matt picked up the card and said, "Why do I get the feeling it won't be as nice as the one on Paradiso?"

"Cause it won't, now get moving," said Neilson.

"Fine, fine," said Matt before getting up and making an exaggerated show of dragging his shackled leg.

...

New York hadn't changed much since the gang's last visit, though the safehouse was a nice improvement...apart from the two council guard dragons.

"Seriously, do we need this much security?" asked Matt, "It's not like we're criminally insane."

"Yeah, just heroically insane," said NegaMorph.

"Shut up, NegaMorph!" yelled Matt.

One of the guards said, "The council wants to make sure you don't leave. Someone like you might get past the anklet."

"Now what would give you such a crazy idea like that?" asked Matt.

"Probably that olive oil you bought," said Chip.

"What this?" asked Matt, holding up the bottle of olive oil, "I'm just, uh...making Italian tonight. Yeah, nice tasty pasta." Everyone paled at that, remembering the last time that Matt had cooked.

"Er, maybe we can order out," said Chloe.

"Yeah, that should be less hazardous, I mean, taxing," said Chris.

"Hypocrites," muttered Matt.

"Well, we might as well get comfortable in there," said Chloe.

"Oh, it couldn't be that bad," said Chip as the door was opened.

The room inside was pretty Spartan, resembling the barracks style room from Matt's first ship. Clearly the NSC wasn't gonna spend much on a so-called 'criminal'.

"Well...it could use a little decoration, but it could be worse," said Chip.

"Coming from someone who not need food," said Stitch, miserably.

"I do need food, just not as much as everyone else," said Chip, "Anyways, any suggestions of where to eat?"

Matt looked at the group. "You know that your disguises are on the ship, right?" he pointed out.

"So we're placing an order for delivery?" asked Morph.

One of the guards said, "Commander Neilson said you are not allowed to spend NSC currency while on world."

"No creds? No money?!" cried Draco, "What are we going to do about food?!"

"We're all gonna starve!" cried Stitch.

"We'll be fine, I can cook," said Matt, trying to calm everyone down .

Stitch and Draco glanced at Matt before Stitch said, "Correction, we're gonna die of food poisoning!"

"If they don't shut up, they'll die of plasma burns," said Matt darkly.

"Please tell me someone else here can cook," said Kala.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I can cook a little," she admitted.

The group gave a sigh of relief. "Ok, what were you thinking of making?" asked Kala.

"Fajitas," Chloe answered. Matt just gulped; remembering the time NSC medical had been forced to come to the canteen due to 24 mercs having third degree burns in their mouths...Chloe liked her food spicy.

"Er, maybe we should have something a little more...mild," said Matt.

Chloe turned to glare. "You saying that there's something wrong with my fajitas?" she said threateningly.

"No, no, it's just that some people would say it has an acquired taste," said Matt, mentally adding, 'As in acquiring a large block of ice to go along with it.' The lightning bolt that fried Matt emphasized Chloe's lack of amusement.

Stitch turned to Chip and asked, "Can you cook?"

Chip gave him an annoyed look and said, "Do I look like a food caterer?"

"No, but I know someone who is," said Draco.

"Uh, we're under house arrest, remember?" said Matt, "They're not going to let us out."

"They're not going to be able to stop us," said Draco, "Morph, Plan 62."

"Plan 62?" said Matt suspiciously.

"Okey-dokey," said Morph before morphing into Frenchfry. "Ouila!" he said before spinning into the kitchen. The crew minus Kala all paled, remembering their last encounter, albeit with the V-Clone version of Frenchfry.

"Uh, is he gonna be fixing us supper?" asked Kala.

Draco said, "Not us, no," with an evil smirk that caused Kala to slowly inch behind Matt.

A minute later, the front door knocked. "Pizza delivery!" called Morph's voice.

"Pizza? What pizza? I didn't hear about any pizza order," said one of the guards.

"Wait...the councilor warned us about the experiments. It's probably a 'file in the cake' trick," said the other guard knowingly.

"Yeah, we better check this," said the first guard. A second later, he said, "Huh, nothing here but pizza. Really good-looking pizza."

"We, uh, better make sure it's safe," said the other guard, "Don't want anyone poisoning them, right?"

...

Inside the room, Kala said, "Erm...what are you listening for?" looking at how everyone seemed to be waiting for something before a 'flomph' was heard outside the door, closely followed by a second.

"And there's our cue. Ladies first," said Matt, grinning.

"So, what's Frenchfry supposed to do anyways?" asked Kala.

"Experiment 062 was designed to be Jumba's personal chef," said Chip before opening the door and showing two very bloated guards, "But he has a bit of a malfunction."

Kala winced. "I'll say," she said sympathetically before saying, "Matt..." angrily as Matt attempted to nick one of the guard's wallets.

"What? I don't have a cash converter," said Matt.

"You guys are so in for it once we can move," snapped one of the guards, "House arrest won't be nearly good enough for you."

"On second thought, he's about to get a pay cut anyways," said Kala.

Matt grinned and emptied the two guards' wallets, smirking at them. "Lesson one, boys. Never underestimate the CPS," he mocked.

"So where to now?" asked NegaMorph.

"To Jake's place, where else?" said Draco.

"No...we forbid it...hey...come back," said the other guard, helplessly as the gang fled.

"Don't worry, it'll wear off, in 24 hours!" called Draco.

...

"Another day of high school finished," sighed Jake as he collapsed on his bed, "Man, who would have thought freshman year could be so hard?" Still, at least he didn't have to deal with Rotwood and Haley was still comfortably seven years behind him. If she ended up skipping a few grades, he'd just scream.

At that moment his cellphone began ringing, the number not appearing on the screen. 'Weird,' thought Jake before picking up and a familiar voice saying, "Hey there Jake."

"Draco, I haven't heard from you in forever, man," said Jake.

"Yeah, well, extensive travel across the multiverse and all," said Draco, "But hey, we can catch up now. The gang's in town and we thought we could stop over for dinner."

"Sounds cool. How many are coming?" Jake said cheerfully.

He could hear Draco sounding off names under his breath before saying, "Erm...all of us."

"All of you? As in the whole crew?"

"Yeah, it's kinda short-notice, but your mom can cover for it, right?" asked Draco. After a minute, Draco said "Erm...are you still there? Helloooooo."

"Uh...this is really, really out of the blue," said Jake, "I mean, this sounds like something that takes a couple days to prepare."

"Uh, we're kinda on our way right now," said Draco, "We'll be there in an hour if the traffic's good."

Jake just stared at the phone. "Oh man," he moaned.

...

About an hour and a half later, the combine jeep pulled up in front of the Long's house. "I think you need to get a larger urban vehicle for civilian territory," said Chip.

"I didn't really plan for this to be used as a damn troop transport," said Matt, annoyed.

"Can we please move it along, I'm getting hungry," snapped Chloe.

"Wait...this isn't gonna work. What are we gonna explain to Mr. Long? Especially about that lot," said Matt, pointing at Stitch and the other experiments.

"How could they not have told him by now?" asked Draco, "I mean, Mrs. Long's been married to him for like, what, 20 years now?"

"Like how you haven't admitted to the entire of Kauai that you're aliens?" said Matt smoothly.

"Mr. Long's one man. An entire island is a lot more difficult," said Chip, "At the current rate, the galactic community will declare Earth ready for joining in about...40 years. Which is a great leap forward."

"Until that time...how do you think he'll react to, in the following order: 3-4 heavily armed half human mercenaries, and half a dozen genetic experiments from another planet?" said Matt.

"Just be glad we didn't bring Weirdwolf, Dune Runner, or the Constructicons," said Chip, "At least Gary and Megan can control themselves."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" yelled Matt, before taking a few deep breaths and trying a new approach, "Does anyone know what 'culture shock' is?" A lot of blank stares answered Matt. "Fine. He'll freak out, the cops'll be called... Let me put it another way: 'alien autopsy'," said Matt, annoyed.

"Ok, ok, we get the point," said Draco.

"Just bring back a doggy bag," said NegaMorph.

Matt looked down before tossing the guard's wallets over to them. "Try not to demolish the restaurants," he said.

"We'll be on our best behaviors," said Morph.

"And I'll be sure they'll be on better behaviors," said Chip.

"Oh boy," muttered Matt.

When the human (or mostly human) members had gotten up the Longs' doorstep, Matt said, "If I recall, Jake mentioned his dad was a bit...eccentric. So don't be put off by his behavior."

Matt carefully knocked at the door only for Haley to answer. "Oh, hi Haley," said Matt, "I'm sure Jake's told you guys we were coming."

"Sure," said Haley before turning back into the house and yelling, "Mom, Dad, the alien guys are here!"

Matt and the others winced. "Not the A word," hissed Matt before grinning desperately as Mr. Long came into view.

"Howdy ho there," said Mr. Long cheerfully, "You must be Matt, I heard so much about you. That is a sharp looking disguise. I wouldn't be able to tell you're an ET. I'm guessing that artificial human skin you're wearing."

Matt turned to stare at Haley. "No...not at all..." he said, he and the gang glaring darkly at Haley.

"Oh, of course, you're shapeshifters," said Mr. Long, "Just like Jake and Haley and Lao Shi and...well, pretty much everyone except Susan. Family dragon think skipped her. Kinda sad, but you might as well cling onto a little bit of normality, right?"

Matt's eye twitched. "Wh-wha...you know? You mean we coulda revealed everything the smegging first time?" he said in a gradually more hysterical voice.

"Now don't go passing out here," said Mr. Long, "Come into the living room. There's a nice comfy couch to pass out on there. Yeah, it's a big shock, isn't it? I remember when I first learned my family's little secret. Knocked me off my feet."

Matt just started giggling. The gang gulped at that and managed to turn Matt out into the street when he finally snapped and threw a plasma ball at a trash can.

"Wow, now that's firepower," said Mr. Long, "Don't do that in the house. I'm not sure if we're insured for that. Susan says yes, but you ever heard of magic insurance?"

Chloe winced. "I wouldn't ask him anything for a while. He sometimes leaves for a visit to Planet Basketcase sometimes," she said, guiding her brother inside.

"Well, dinner's gonna be in about five minutes so he better get back soon," said Mr. Long, "I'm just gonna go pop in and see how much more basting the turkey needs."

The gang watched as Mr. Long left before they all, minus Matt who was still absent from Planet Sanity, turned to glare at Haley. "Alright, spill the beans," said Techo, darkly.

"Well...when the Dark Dragon tried to take over the Dragon Council before he got banished, Dad kinda found out about our secret before that," said Haley, "He was pretty helpful with getting rid of the shade demons."

"Let me guess, Jake dropped the ball," said Chris.

"Actually...I did," said Haley, "He just walked in while I was in dragon form."

Chloe smirked. "You dropped the ball? To be honest, I never thought you'd be it," she said.

Techo groaned and said, "Great, now I owe Draco $40."

Haley looked embarrassed before Matt said glumly, "Did they know when we had that little...misadventure last year?"

"Well, a bit, we left a lot of the details out," said Haley, "I mean; we weren't gone for that long by their time."

"Good point," said Matt, conversationally.

"Yeah, let's keep the adventure stories at a low key," said Chris, "Magic's one thing, but we've dealt with a lot more than that."

"Yes...lots," said Matt, looing shifty for a moment.

"Since Jake's dad already knows about us, you think we can have the other guys come back?" asked Kala.

Matt thought about this. "Erm...no. Not a chance," he said finally.

"In that case, let's have dinner already," said Chloe.

...

**Meanwhile, in an abandoned dock warehouse...**

The warehouse had been abandoned for years. It wasn't anymore as several...creatures had set up shop. "Hurry up and get the last of the alchemy gear through," said Ghoulwyrm annoyed. He didn't want to keep the portal open longer than necessary in case the NSC spotted it. Fortunately, he was able to summon several shade demons to act as movers. Of course, since they could easily be defeated with bright enough light, he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to utilize them much in actual battle.

Omnirus yawned. "Why are we here again? If I remember correctly, half the NSC fleet is here," she said bored.

"And miss out on Lynch's punishment?" said Ghoulwyrm, "Besides, the magical creatures of this world needs to learn to fear the new Dragon of Darkness."

Omnirus yawned, "Nobody knows you're the new Dragon of Darkness...and I doubt they care."

"The news of the new Dark Dragon has to have reached here," said Ghoulwyrm, "I am one of the top 13 threats to the magical world now."

Banana's B said meekly, "Not exactly. You haven't actually done anything to threaten the magical world yet."

"I've been busy in other worlds!" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "Of course, with the original Dark Dragon gone and the Huntsclan wiped out, it'll be simple to rise up to the top of the list."

"Not so," said Bananas, "Ya gotta win the R-E-S-P-E-C-T first. You're starting from the ground bottom."

Ghoulwyrm looked blank. "I don't want their respect. I WANT THEIR FEAR!" he said, roaring the last part.

"Fear, respect, its two sides of the same coin in the villain's game," said Bananas, "Ya gotta build up a rep, make a big show."

"Whuh?" said Ghoulwyrm blankly.

Omnirus rolled her eyes, "You gotta start small. You didn't start with world domination when you started out, did you?"

"Er, I interned with those who were seeking world domination," said Ghoulwyrm, "But those days are over. I'm beholden to no one now."

Omnirus rolled her eyes. "Ok...rule one: Start small. This is the home verse of two merc companies and one NSC fleet. You get their attention too fast and you're dead...again," she said as carefully as she could

"Yeah, lots of opportunities here," said Bananas B, "Just gotta look for the best sources of mayhem." "Hmm...this may be a chance to let my more...creative nature," said Ghoulwyrm, grinning darkly.

Omnirus threw her hands in the air. "Why am I even talking to this idiot? Red? Can't you talk to this moron?" she said angrily, addressing a robotic dragon in the corner.

"When he's up to the army-building level, I may talk to him," said Red coldly, "I won't be dragged along with minor petty crimes. He can conspire with you other lowlifes."

"Speaking of lowlifes, where is Mantichrome and his miscreant machines?" demanded Ghoulwyrm, "I wanted everyone here."

Red looked thoughtful. "He said something about 'getting you some stuffing'?" he said puzzled.

Bananas laughed and said, "Yeah, Manti's the slippery one here. You better keep an eye on him, boss. He could be a bigger nasty than you are."

Ghoulwyrm span to face Bananas. "What was that?" he said dangerously.

Banana's gulped and said nervously, "I meant...well...he's kinda untrustworthy. That's why you have that control curse on him."

"True enough," said Ghoulwyrm, "But I wouldn't put it past him if he found a way to get around it or to break it somehow. Fortunately, his hatred towards our enemies exceeds his hatred towards me. Still, we should keep an eye out for any of his treachery."

Omnirus sighed. "He can't even spot an insult," she muttered to herself.

Ghoulwyrm turned towards Omnirus and said, "Don't think you're getting time off. We have plenty of work to do here. I want to know all exploitable magicks that can be used here, which villains are the highest concerns in the area, where the NSC is based and what they're doing with Matt. And above all, I want to know about the one who defeated my predecessor, this American Dragon."

* * *

At long last, another mainstream story is starting. I would have started uploading this quite some time ago, but I had to juggle quite a few other stories and I just kept procrastinating. But to make up for the long delay, this story will updated very quickly, at least for the first few chapters.

Anyways, the gang is in pretty hot water after the events of the last story. And it's not going to get any less tepid anytime soon. Not to mention Ghoulwyrm will be up to no good as usual and there's bound to be a lot of trouble. This is a very important transition story in the saga so you don't want to miss out on this. Keep an eye on this story and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 2**

The gang had been grounded for two days and the change of pace took a lot of getting used to. Since they had so much involuntary free time, they had to find new ways to keep themselves busy.

Draco was slumped in the corner, doing the time honored traditional hobby in these situations, paddleball...or seeing as experiments never did anything simple; 4 paddleballs at once.

Of course, as everyone knows, a repetitive sound tends to annoy a person's tolerance to a thin sheet. And Matt didn't have much left, judging by the way he was grinding his teeth. Matt turned to glare at Draco. "Draco...I'm giving you a choice...you can either walk outside with those...or I throw you outside...Ok?" he said in a strained voice.

"Everyone knows you can't walk and paddleball at the same time," said Draco.

Morph, Contrinus, and Stitch who were playing cards in the corner winced at that. Stitch commented "3...2...1..." to himself before Draco shot over the table and hit the far wall with a splat noise before slowly sliding down.

"That's something I would have expected from you, Morph," said Contrinus.

"That's something I really wanted to do," said Morph.

Just then, Chip stuck his head into the room and said, "Hey, could you keep it down? I'm doing delicate work here."

Matt glared at everyone before saying, "I can't take this anymore. I thought prisoners at least got exercise time."

"Yeah, the guards are still ticked about you making them triple-overweight," said Contrinus.

"Technically, we're already criminals. So why not just knock em out and leave?" said Matt, pointing to the foot bracelet, "It's not like I can skip the country with Mr. Bitey attached to me."

"If you want a furlough, you're going to need to improve your act," said Chip, "Now if you don't mind, I need to keep a very close eye on-" Suddenly, a bang like a firework was heard and Chip swore in Tantalog before ducking back through the door.

Matt sighed before knocking on the door, one of the guards peering in, in human form. "What do you want? If it's another cake..." he began only for Matt to say "Let me out of here or I'll blow a hole in the wall," in a serious tone

"You're in enough trouble already, pal," said the guard, "You keep acting up and they'll put you in solitary."

"I need to get out before I snap..." said Matt, as reasonably as he could manage which sadly wasn't much.

"I need better proof before I even consider such an infraction," said the guard.

Matt plasma-controlled Morph into his hand and held him up. "This guy's my roommate," said Matt.

"Hello," said Morph sucking his nose into his mouth.

The guards both peered at Morph. "C'mon...this guy's a walking talking interrogation tool. Please...mercy," said Matt, desperately.

Morph snuck his tongue around his head before sticking into one ear and poking it out the other. The guards grimaced with disgust and one of them said, "Ok, you've made your point."

Matt grinned. "FREEDOM!" he yelled, shoving Morph at one of the guards before running out laughing insanely.

The rest of the gang peered out slowly, before Chloe said, "Sorry about that...stir craziness."

...

Meanwhile, in his secret hideout, the evil Ghoulwyrm was insidiously plotting on his next wicked scheme...or at least he's trying to. "Ok...I could turn everyone to stone...no, that's already been done..." he muttered to himself, tossing a screwed up scroll over his shoulder onto an impressive pile.

Omnirus chuckled to herself. "Writer's block?" she taunted.

Ghoulwyrm growled at her and said, "I can't think of new ideas all of time. I need some inspiration."

"You've forgotten one thing: as an unknown, the local police won't be looking for you," said Omnirus, as if to herself.

"Which can work in my favor," said Ghoulwyrm, "It's the best way to catch them by surprise. But still...I need to find a scheme that will take full advantage of it."

"Why not go take a look around? Get some inspiration, case a bank," said Omnirus, not looking up from her book

"Case a bank? Why would I want to do that?" snapped Ghoulwyrm as he floated towards a wall, "I have enough treasure for ten generations."

Omnirus rolled her eyes and looked up to explain before seeing that Ghoulwyrm had opened a portal and walked through. "Fine...screw him," she muttered to herself.

...

Broadway Avenue is pretty well-known for its entertainment establishments. Everyone knows that there are dozens of people who want to get into show business. What they don't know is that there's an agency for magical creatures as well. Finn McTavish was a well-known talent agent among the magical community and has dozens of hopeful people auditioning for him a week.

The leprechaun looked at the latest on the list and said "Next," hearing the door open.

The door opened and a young woman walked in, wearing a mauve dress. She was rather slender, but not unattractively so. Her hair was long and platinum blonde, which made her milky skin seem even paler. Her face was pretty and fresh, with eyes one of the palest blues found in human eyes. "Good day," she said in a distinct Irish accent, "Um, this is the right office for Mr. McTavish, right?"

McTavish shook his head to clear his thoughts before replying, "Yes it is, m'dear. What can I do for ye?"

"Well, I'm kinda new here," said the woman, "I just first came to America, ye know. My name's Alice McClain. I was hopin' ye'd help start a singin' career."

McTavish smiled, "MacClain? Why, I think I met ye ma and pa. Strange to see a selkie so far from the old homestead."

"Selkie? Oh, I'm ne a selkie," said Alice, "I was adopted."

"Ah, I be guessin' yer a siren then," said McTavish, "Sirens be a bit popular over here. O' course, there's some regulations considerin' yer voice. But let's hear a wee bit."

Alice nodded and began to sing a scale. While it was pleasant...it was also powerful enough to cause anything made of glass to practically explode.

McTavish's small body was knocked off his chair by the blast. "Saints preserve us," exclaimed the leprechaun.

"So, do I get the job?" asked Alice, "That was a perfect note, right?"

"I'll...I'll get back to ye," said MacTavish, a little too quickly

"But I barely started," said Alice.

McTavish pressed a button on the intercom and said, "Er, Ms. Riley, I be takin' me lunch break now. I'll be back in an hour." He quickly went over to the door and said, "Just leave yer number and I'll call ye. Don't call me." He then ran out.

Alice just stared as MacTavish practically fled. "Why'd he run like that?" she muttered to herself. As she walked out of the talent agency, she muttered, "I know I've got a good voice, Ma and Pa said so. I shoulda been a shoe-in."

Not far above, Ghoulwyrm was still trying to clear his head. "That's one way to clear earwax," he muttered to himself before hearing Alice. "Hmm...I think this may be exploitable," he said, "But I better check it out before springing. But first, I need some ear plugs."

...

Meanwhile, Matt and the others were enjoying their freedom. "I'm so glad to be out. If I'd had to listen to one more minute of Draco's paddleball tappytappytap, I would have gone psycho," Matt said cheerfully.

"And what are you going to do with your newfound-yet-limited freedom?" asked Chip.

Matt paused for a moment before saying, "I don't know, go to Coney Island?" The others just looked at him. "What? Anyone else got a better idea?" he said deliberately.

"I was hoping for a more intellectual stimulation," said Chip, "For instance, there's an exhibit at the Art Museum of opera sets from Europe."

"Boring, overruled, we're going to Coney Island," said Draco.

Matt and Draco high fived at that. "Woo hoo...day off," said Matt cheerfully before he and Draco's eyes crossed and they grabbed their ears.

"What? What are you guys doing?" asked Chip.

"Didn't you hear that? Argh, I'm gonna feel that all day," moaned Draco.

"Hear what?" asked Chip before turning to Stitch and asking, "Stitch, did you hear anything?" The way Stitch was clutching his head seemed to confirm it.

"You didn't hear anything?" moaned Matt, rubbing his head.

"No, it must have been a very high frequency," said Chip.

"It was loud, I know that," said Draco miserably.

"Hmm, odd that no one else seems to have noticed it," said Chip.

A surge of stray cats and dogs quickly shot that comment down, Morph riding a German Shepard with a cowboy hat on. "IT'S A STAMPEEEEDE!" he yelled as he was carried away.

The group watched the pack flee as if all the dogcatchers in New York were after them. "Hmm...I think we may need to investigate this," said Contrinus.

"But it's our day off," said Draco. "How about we vote on this?" said Matt, "All who says they should blow a possible day of fun at Coney Island and risk crippling headaches raise their hand."

Chip raised all his arms...briefly as Matt blasted them off. Contrinus just glared, her wing up. "That's cheating," she said sulkily.

"All against?" said Matt, raising his hand along with Stitch and Draco, "The nays have it. Coney Island, here we come."

Chip grumbled, re-attaching his hands. "I'm still gonna look into this," he muttered.

"Suit yourself, killjoy. If you want us, we'll be having fun," said Matt.

"Mmm...hot dogs," said Stitch as they walked off.

"I'd wait till after the rides if I were you," said Draco.

...

Alice walked out of another windowless talent agency, her head hung. "I don't believe it. I'm usually so good at singing," she said gloomily.

Just then, a blue Scion xB with teal circuit lines on its sides pulled up beside her. The driver's window lowered, revealing a pale man in a dark suit with sunglasses. "Hey kid, was that your pipes I just heard?" he asked.

Alice took a step back in surprise. "I don't play the pipes. Me cousin does though," she said confused.

"No kid, the singing, that voice, I heard it all the way down the street," said the man, "Did those notes come from your throat?"

"Yes. Me ma n pa say I have a wonderful singing voice," said Alice proudly.

"Well, yer parents weren't just whistling Dixie," said the man, "The name's Steve Zyvar, the finest-tuned talent scout in the Big Apple. And you, kid, have the larynx of a natural-born star."

Alice's eyes practically turned to stars then and there. "Really?" she said happily.

"Sure thing, kid, I got an eye for talent and baby do you got talent," said Steve, "How about we head over to my office and go over some details?"

Alice looked suspicious at that. "I should be gettin' back to me apartment. I told me ma I'd call her every day," she said.

Zyvar paused as that. This girl could be invaluably useful, but dealing with her parents may be a bit too much for him to handle. "Ok, sure, no problem," said Zyvar, "At least let me give you a lift. It's probably a long way back."

Alice shrugged. "Sure...I don't got a car yet," she said, jumping in.

As they drove through the traffic, Zyvar said, "So tell me about yourself. The fans will want a background."

"Well, me name's Alice MacClain, though pa said it used to be O'Callahan," said Alice.

Zyvar, keeping an eye on the road, said, "Oh...they changed their names?"

"Ne, me parents adopted me when I was but only a wee lass," said Alice, "I canna remember much about me first parents, but ma an pa said that they were good musicians."

Zyvar kept his eyes on the road, thinking, 'Man, she was sheltered.'

"Fer some reason, they didn't want me singing to close to hum-, er I mean, normal folk, er, I mean..."

"Kid, I've heard them all, I know alot about magic," said Zyvar, "It's no surprise to me you're an Irish fairy."

"Oh, well, me folks are selkies, but they say me birth family were sirens. I suppose that's why they don't want me singing outside so much. Don't wanna hypnotize too many good folk

Zyvar said vaguely, "That's nice," while inside his head, he was dancing a jig. No way his luck was this good. "So, adopted, Irish, humble origins, the fans will eat this up," said Zyvar, "But, I can't sell it without knowing it. Sing us a song of the Emerald Isle."

Alice smiled and started singing 'The Mountains of Mourne. Zyvar kept a false grin as the power of the voice pounded against his ears. The Scion seemed to be affected too, its wheels started shaking back and forth. "Ok...that's enough," he managed in a friendly tone when he realized smoke was coming from the car bonnet.

"Am I really good?" asked Alice.

"Kid, you'll knock them dead," said Zyvar.

Alice suddenly pointed, not noticing that she brained Zyvar, making his eyes roll. "There...that's me apartment building. Thanks for the ride, Mr. Zyvar," she said happily, jumping out.

"Sure thing, Alice," said Zyvar before handing her a slip of paper, "Here's my number. Call me tomorrow."

Alice took the paper and practically skipped off. Zyvar shook his head "Damn, she's got a pair of lungs on her...and a nasty left hook, even if it was an accident," he muttered. Then he turned to the dashboard and said, "You get all those frequencies?"

"Affirmative," said a robotic voice, "Her sonic wavelength causes notable deterioration in organic health readings."

"Of course they do, but can you filter the song through without killing someone?" demanded Zyvar.

The dashboard said, "Why would we do that? Surely mass organic termination is the purpose of this operation."

"You attract more flies with honey than you do with vinegar," said Zyvar, "We'll make her a star, alright. Then she'll go supernova."

"Comment understood. Filter implant will be prepped and ready for your return. Should additional shielding be supplied to Omnirus?"

Zyvar looked thoughtful before saying, "Eventually, but I think she ought to hear Alice's music at its full potential first."

"Understood," said the robotic voice gravely.

...

**2 days later...**

Chip squeezed a few more drops of a clear liquid into the beaker of reddish liquid before him. He watched the mixture bubble for a minute before saying, "Yes, it seems to be reacting properly."

Draco wandered in, holding a hot dog from the vendor in the street below. "Hey...you sure you should be doing that in here? Matt still hasn't forgiven you for blowing up the North Star's lab," he commented, taking a bite

"I wouldn't have blown it up if someone hadn't let their crumbs spoil the chemicals," said Chip in a sour tone.

"Crumbs?" said Draco, with his mouth full, spraying crumbs over the liquid which began to boil violently.

Chip said darkly, "I hate you."

...

Matt opened an eye half way as the apartment shook with an explosion. "Chip," he and Chloe said at the same time

A minute later, Draco and Chip stumbled out, both covered in soot. "Matt, please instruct this sloppy eater in the proper maintenance policies that should be observed in a chemical lab," said Chip.

Matt pulled his hat over his eyes. "And you stop messing with unstable chemicals," he said with a yawn.

"They're not all unstable," said Chip, "Fortunately, I managed to save one before the rest went kaboom." He held up a small perfume spray bottle that had a pinkish liquid in it.

"What the hell is that?" said Matt, looking up with mild interest.

"I'll show you, but first you need to open your mouth," said Chip.

"Oh hell no...I remember what happened the last time," said Matt, angrily, not noticing Morph waddling up with a hammer from a tool kit he'd found in one of the other rooms.

"Smashy-smashy," Morph said, hitting Matt on the foot.

"ARRRGH...MORPH, I'LL-urk!" yelled Matt before Chip sprayed him in the mouth.

"That should do it, now try doing a bit of singing," said Chip.

"Er, you sure that's a good idea?" asked Chloe.

"Trust me," said Chip.

Matt glared and made a throat-slitting motion before trying some singing tones. The group braced itself for an ear-splitting racket, but Matt's notes were surprisingly in-tune and on-key. It sounded pretty good too.

"Ah, a success reproduction," said Chip.

"What was that stuff?" asked Draco. "It's called atomizitune," said Chip, "I found the formula while browsing the extranet and decided to try it."

Matt's eye twitched at that. "What?" he said, worried.

"It stimulates the larynx to produce harmonious sound waves when being used to vocalize," said Chip, "In other words, it gives you a melodious singing voice."

"But...that's how I get my information," said Matt miserably.

"Oh, relax," said Chip, "You need a much larger dose to make it permanent. That little spritz should wear off in about an hour."

"What am I supposed to do until then?" demanded Matt.

"I don't know, why don't you serenade Kala?" suggested Draco, "I hear girls like that."

Matt glared at that. "How about I brush up on my ion blade work?" he said darkly, readying the aforementioned weapon.

"Now, Matt, let's not be hasty," said Chip.

Chloe got up and said, "I think I'll read somewhere that will have less noise."

Chloe walked out, closing the door just as Matt yelled, "DIE!"

...

Omnirus yawned in the corner, watching Ghoulwyrm preparing a disguise spell. "Oh, when are you gonna drop pretenses? Not even she will be fooled forever," she commented.

"She won't be, just long enough," said Ghoulwyrm, "Besides, I'm sure her newfound fame is plenty distracting."

Omnirus sighed. "Ok, I'll bite, what's your stupid plan?" she asked.

"Simple," said Ghoulwyrm, "we let her filtered singing draw as big as a fanbase as we can. Then we'll be host a large live concert for her. And when she's up performing in front of that huge crowd, we drop the filter."

"And where's my filter?" said Omnirus suspiciously

"How long are you going to keep harping about that?" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "You're not even part of this plan, all you've been doing is criticizing and second-guessing!"

"Cause I don't wanna have my brain turned to porridge. I heard that girl all the way over here when you first met her," said Omnirus accusingly.

Ghoulwyrm scoffed, "With those tiny little ears? I doubt it."

Omnirus growled. "Keep laughing, ugly," she muttered.

"Oh, that's not a laugh, this is," said Ghoulwyrm before hitting a button on the console, allowing a few seconds of Alice's unaltered singing play.

Omnirus yelled in pain, gripping her head as the windows in the warehouse shattered...before an energy beam melted the console. "I TOLD YOU NOT TO UNFILTER IT!" roared Red angrily.

Ghoulwyrm glared at Red and said, "It was just a brief demonstration. I wish you wouldn't keep destroying our equipment. These were pretty pricey to get."

"Silence, you should not interfere with banshees. They tend to have tempers," said Red warningly.

"Ha, banshee tempers, that's a good one," laughed Ghoulwyrm until he realized he was the only one laughing.

"I wasn't joking," said Red coldly before walking off.

Ghoulwyrm gave the leaving Red an annoyed look before saying, "The girl doesn't even know she's a banshee. She thinks the filters are to tone down her siren song. She won't know what's really going on until her crowd drops like flies."

Omnirus rolled her eyes. "Where is this 'Alice' anyway?" she asked.

"Signing albums at the Magic Market," said Ghoulwyrm, "A little more publicity to draw in the fans."

…

The Magic Market was bustling with people lining up to get their albums signed by Alice MacClain. She's been an overnight sensation and several dozen magical creatures wanted her autograph, as well as a few nonmagical individuals.

Two of the aforementioned non-magicals were arguing in the cue. Trixie sighed. "Spud, don't you think you're getting a bit obsessed with this Alice girl?" she asked.

"Obsessed? What gives you that idea?" asked Spud who was wearing an Alice MacClain T-shirt, wearing a baseball cap with Alice's picture on it, along with a matching bag in one hand, three new Alice albums in the other, and a poster of Alice rolled up under his arm.

"I dunno...a hunch?" said Trixie to herself.

"Spud, I think you need to slow down with this MacClain stuff," said Jake, "It's just Celtic stuff, I don't see why you're so caught up in it."

"You wouldn't, Mr. Chinese Hip-Hop," said Spud, "But I've got a strong Irish heritage."

Trixie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I thought 'Spudinski' was polish," she said.

Spud said, "My mom's family is from Ireland."

"Still, you know you're getting too wrapped up," said Jake, "I mean, you won't stop talking about her or listening to her music."

"Yeah, this is as messed up as that stupid potato diet you tried," said Trixie.

"Who says I've stopped doing it?" said Spud, "100% potato all the way."

Jake asked worried, "You sure that's good for you, Spud?"

Spud said proudly "I'll have you know that I lost 3 pounds over the last week.

Trixie sighed, "Yeah...from bad diet."

"You guys will never understand. Potatoes are Irish and Irish is strong in my- Hey, we're next!" Spud's defensive tone dropped when he noticed they were up at the front of the line.

Alice looked up at Spud approached and dropped several CD's of Alice's singing. She giggled at the sight of him. "Well, aren't we the fan?" she said.

"Oh, Alice, your music reaches down to the deepest part of my heart," said Spud.

"Ugh, this is reaching the deepest part of my stomach, and bringing it up," said Jake.

"I'm sure I could sing ye a few notes. Anything for me fans," said Alice, pleasantly.

"I would be greatly honored," said Spud.

"Ugh, Celtic keening, I'd rather have something loud and funky any day," said Trixie.

Alice ignored Trixie's comment and starting singing an aria. Fortunately, she had enough voice-coaching from Zyvar to keep everything fragile around her from shattering. But while the music was lovely, it was loud enough to make everyone cover their ears.

"It's definitely loud, but it sure ain't funky," said Trixie.

Spud however seemed to be having a different reaction, staring straight ahead wide eyed. After a few seconds, Alice stopped singing. The crowd was shaken, but still applauded, though probably not as enthusiastically as they might have done. Spud however keeled over backwards, out cold. "SPUD!" yelled Trixie and Jake, horrified.

"Oh, I musta overwhelmed him," said Alice.

"He needs to get to a hospital," said Jake.

"I'm on it," said Trixie as she hit 911 on her cell phone.

Jake turned into his dragon form and picked up Spud.

"Tell me if he recovers alright," said Alice before handing Trixie a note with her cell phone number on it.

...

Matt was wandering near the magical district with Kala. "At least we're out of explosion town. Hopefully we'll still have a safehouse to come back too," Matt said, happily.

"The guys aren't that bad, at least when Draco remembers to clean up after himself," said Kala.

"Yeah I supp-" began Matt before the same deafening tone from before assaulted their ears. Matt and Kala covered their ears until the keening ended.

"Ow, that hurt," said Kala.

"Yeah, I know that sour note, I hoped it was a one-time only," said Matt.

Kala winced before looking around. "It came from there," she said, pointing.

Matt and Kala were heading over there when they nearly got bowled over by Jake. "Whoa, where's the fire?" asked Matt.

"No time, Spud needs to get to a hospital," said Jake.

"What?" said Matt, following before spotting Spud, who was now sporting a bloody nose. "What the hell happened?" asked Matt, turning to dragon form to keep pace.

"He was listening to that Alice MacClain girl sing for a bit and he dropped," said Jake.

"Never heard of her," said Matt, promptly.

"She's this new artist," said Trixie, "She does Irish songs and stuff, nothing that great."

"Most singers don't cause comas and nosebleeds," commented Matt, gravely.

"I'd try to heal him, but I don't think my powers have progressed beyond the EXP Virus," said Kala.

"Let's just get him to A&E as fast as we can," said Matt.

…

Matt, Kala, Jake, and Trixie were all in the waiting room. They had gotten Spud checked in and were currently waiting for results. "I've never seen Spud in such bad shape," said Trixie, "It's got to be that potato diet he's been on. He needs to round out his eating."

Kala said darkly, "Potatoes don't cause nose bleeds."

Just then, the doctor walked in, "Well, we had a bit of a scare, but it looks like Mr. Spundinski is going to be just fine," he said.

"What caused it, doc? He just went down," said Trixie in a worried voice.

"Vitamin deficiency, plain and simple," said the doctor, "I assume he hasn't been eating right."

"He's been eating nothing but potatos for the last week," said Jake.

The doctor looked puzzled. "Just a week? His levels are more consistent with a year of that diet...maybe more," he said.

"Uh, he's had a fever too," said Trixie, "Probably burned up all those extra vitamins."

"Hmm...I see," said the doctor, "Well, Arthur should be back to normal with enough vitamin supplements. And make sure he eats properly, not just potatoes."

Matt nodded. "We will, doc. Thanks," he said. As soon as the doctor left, Matt said, "You heard him, Spud couldn't just be suffering from malnutrition. It's got to be something else."

"You mean that MacClain girl?" asked Kala.

"I believe so," said a voice before everyone turned to see Lao Shi.

Matt turned in surprise. "YOU ALWAYS DO THAT!" he yelled before being shushed by several doctors.

"This Alice MacClain," said Lao Shi, "Did her singing have a loud and piercing quality?"

"It felt like someone had fired a cutting laser in one ear and out the other," said Matt simply.

"I see," said Lao Shi, "I believe I know what is going on. It would appear that Alice MacClain is actually a banshee."

"A banshee...on a singing tour," said Matt flatly before saying with all seriousness, "Your music industry needs serious work."

"Aren't banshees those Irish ghost women who can shriek people to death?" asked Kala.

"A banshee's wail does not cause death by itself," said Lao Shi, "It exacerbates any pre-existing condition of the listener to a dangerous state. A healthy person would only feel weakened and a large headache."

Trixie said, "Wait, if this Alice girl can scream people to death with her singing, how come we aren't seeing more people here?"

Matt shrugged, "Plenty of sonic filters, bound to be one that'll make her singing non-fatal."

"Who's making all her CDs anyways?" asked Kala.

"Some independent guy named Steve Zyvar," said Jake.

"Zyvar?" said Matt suddenly.

"Yeah, weird sounding name, isn't it?" said Jake.

"No, I know that name, it used to be Ghoulwyrm's," said Matt.

"Who?" asked Jake, Trixie, and Lao Shi.

"Oh, yeah. You've never met him," muttered Matt before saying, "He's undead...and I swear he's stalking me. We always bump into him."

"I can handle a zombie," said Jake.

"Uh, he's a lot more than just a zombie," said Kala.

"How much more?" asked Trixie.

"I think you would put it as 'a full-combo horror meal with a heavy side of dragon'," said Matt.

Kala glared at Matt. "Never...talk like that again," she said darkly.

"Yeah, leave it to the professionals," said Jake.

"Wait a minute," said Trixie, "Alice is doing a live concert in Central Park tonight."

"Oh god, he wouldn't be that cliché, would he?" said Matt, moaning.

"Hundreds of lives are at stake," said Lao Shi, "You must go and stop that concert before the banshee strikes everyone down."

"How are we gonna do that? I'm technically not a merc at the moment...not till the hearing anyway. And can you think of one cop who'll actually LISTEN to me?" said Matt.

"If only we had some backstage passes," said Kala, "We could go in and stop Alice before she starts singing."

"And where are we gonna get some?" asked Trixie, "Those things cost a lotta money, we don't have that kind of green."

"We don't have to pay, cause someone already owes us," said Jake.

"Who?" said Matt suspiciously.

"Alice doesn't know who we are or that we're onto her," said Jake, "And I'm sure she'll want to make up for accidentally making Spud faint."

"That's evil...I love it," said Matt, smirking evilly

"You know Ghoulwyrm's going to be putting up a fight," said Kala.

"Yeah, but when has he ever gotten close to beating us? We just cut his head off and hide it in a bucket usually...what?" said Matt conversationally before turning as Trixie fainted from the thought.

...

The plan went more smoothly than Matt would have believed. Alice seemed genuinely remorseful and had agreed to giving backstage passes for Spud and his friends.

"That was easy...too easy. Something will go pear shaped...I just know it," Matt said complainingly.

Just then, Draco stuck his head out of Jake's backpack and took a deep breath. "How comes we need to stay in here?" demanded Draco.

"Cause they don't allow pets," said Matt, pushing Draco back in.

"You should be thankful I can hold my breath for such a long time," said Chip's voice from Trixie's backpack.

"You've survived vacuums...and be quiet. Pets don't talk," said Matt simply.

Pretty soon, they found Alice's dressing room, which was recognizable by the big star on the door with Alice's name on it.

Matt looked at it. "Ah well...Key time," he said, getting ready to kick the door down.

"Hold up," said Trixie, "Ya can't just smash into a girl's room like that. She might not be presentable in there."

"So? She's a threat. This is how I respond to threats," said Matt.

Kala glared. "Matt...you don't kick my door down," she said accusingly.

Matt said, "That's cause you can incinerate me," before seeing her glare, "Fine, I'll knock."

Matt reluctantly knocked on the door. "Who is it?" asked Alice.

"It's me, Spud, from your autographing," called Spud.

"Oh, give me a wee few minutes. I'm not proper."

Matt looked at the glares. "I hate you sooo much...sometimes the villains have it easy," he muttered.

"You know, even if she's an evil banshee who nearly killed me, I still find her voice so soothing and melodic," said Spud.

"Oh, for heaven's sake..." he muttered.

Just then, Steve Zyvar came around the corner and said, "Alice, you're on in 15 minutes. Don't take all- AAAAAHHHH!" The girly scream at the end was when he spotted Matt. He shot back round the corner. "It's not possible...does he stalk me?" he said panicky to himself, a vision of his head in a bucket in his mind's eye

Matt looked around and asked, "Did anyone hear a girl scream?"

Kala slapped him for that just as Alice opened the door. "Oh...Mr. Spudooski, it's good to see ye up and about," she said happily

"Well, yeah, I should really stop eating too many potatoes," said Spud.

Alice looked at Matt, spotting, just for a second, Matt's blaster. "Who're your friends?" she asked.

"Uh, just some concerned...people," said Spud, "You know, worried about my health."

Alice looked at Matt suspiciously before continuing, "Well, it's good that ye made it. Mr. Zyvar said this'll be a concert tae remember."

"Yeah, he would say that," said Matt, "Too bad that's not gonna happen."

"What?" said Alice, upset.

"We're onto you," said Jake, "I'm the American Dragon and I know what you really are."

"Oh, ye aren't comin' ta deport me, are ye?" asked Alice, "I know there's restrictions for sirens, but I weren't using none of me hypnotizin' powers, I swear."

"Wait...say what?" said Matt, confused. "We heard you were a banshee."

Alice laughed and said, "A banshee? Me? Me ma and pa said me birth parents were sirens. Why would they lie to me?"

Matt looked at the others. "Erm...team meeting please," he said, pulling the others back. "Nobody acts that well, she really believes it," he hissed.

"How can someone not know what kind of magical creature they really are?" asked Jake.

"The same way we didn't tell you were a dragon until you started developing your dragon powers," said Lao Shi.

"That's messed up. She can sing people to death...that's kinda 'need to know'," complained Matt.

"Banshees are not inherently evil," said Lao Shi, "They are meant to ease the suffering to the other side. However, they are suspect to much discrimination and bad reputation."

"What about how they hospitalized Spud?" said Matt

"Spud was on that stupid potato diet too long," said Trixie, "Alice here didn't know that. Spud was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Nobody is perfectly healthy...hell, before me and Chloe got medical nanites, I had a laundry list of illnesses," said Matt.

Even though Ghoulwyrm was in disguise, his powers were still as effective as ever, including his hearing.

Still, he wasn't too quick to jump to conclusions. Matt may have had an unstable health, but becoming part dragon may have balanced that out. He pulled out his comm and said, "Soundwave, I need you to hack into the NSC rifter medical records..."

"That might take a while," said Soundwave.

"What? I thought you were supposed to be a master over sonic technology," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Correct, sonic technology, not computer hacking," said Soundwave.

Ghoulwyrm growled before saying, "Patch me through to Mantichrome then."

"Acknowledged," said Soundwave.

A few minutes later, Zyvar walked around the corner and snapped, "Alice, we've got a crowd out there waiting for you. We've got no time to dilly-dally. Let's move it already."

Matt spun, weapon coming out, "Hold it right there, buster," he said seriously.

"Listen, kid, don't know who you are, don't care. Alice has a big date with the young people of New York City and she can't waste time with you lot," said Zyvar.

"Shut up, Ghoulwyrm or I'll put your head in a bucket," said Matt, nastily.

Zyvar glared and said, "Alice, it looks like your fans won't let you through without hearing some of your music. Give them a quick song and let's get going." Matt turned in horror before the room started spinning. "Beautiful, kid, real show-stopper," said Zyvar, though Matt couldn't really see him, or anything else, clearly.

…

The group watched in horror as Matt keeled over, bleeding from the mouth. "You're DEAD!" Kala snarled, grabbing Zyvar.

"Oh my, looks like your friend needs to go to the ICU now," said Zyvar, "I'll have security escort you out."

Kala snarled before two figures walked on and one said in Omnirus's amused voice "Let's not make...too much of a scene, Miss Triseptus." The guard grabbed Kala's arm with a grip like iron as she picked up Matt over one shoulder and started hauling Kala away. The other guard was pushing the others back down the hallway.

Alice looked puzzled as Matt was dragged away as well. "What's goin' on? He acted like he knew ye," she asked.

Zyvar lowered his glasses, revealing spiraling rings of black and purple. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about," he said in a commanding voice, "You'll be doing the concert as planned."

Alice's eyes mirrored Zyvar's before she shook her head. "Ah, it be nothin'. They'll be fine. We cannae keep the fans waitin', can we."

"No we can't," said Zyvar as he put his glasses back in place, "Now finish up and get on stage. You have a big crowd to please." Alice nodded and turned back to her dressing table. Zyvar grinned and said, "Perfect, not only will my reputation here get a big boost, but I'll be rid of my most persistent enemy." He stopped at that, "No...not gonna get confident...fate follows that merc like a lovesick puppy. Not gonna mess it up now."

...

Not surprisingly, the gang weren't escort out the door and to an ambulance. Rather, they brought down beneath the stage, next to one of the speakers.

"Lemme guess...front row seat?" said Kala, sarcastically.

"The best sound in the whole place," said the guard with Red's voice.

Matt, who had woken up, moaned weakly, "Oh, not. Not you...I thought I blew you up."

"I am not so easily destroyed," said Red, "I may be exiled from Avalar for the moment, but now I have more ample opportunity to extend my power."

"Drop dead," said Kala nastily only to whimper as Red dropped his hologram "I already have once, thanks to your friend."

"Whoa, you didn't say anything about robot dragons," said Jake, "Where'd this guy come from?"

"It's a long and very fascinating story that I'll tell you about later," said Matt.

"No, you won't, the dead do not tell tales," said Red in an amused voice, reactivating his hologram.

"You won't be in much shape to be telling tales either after she starts singing," said Trixie.

Red laughed and said, "The banshee's keening will only strike down living flesh. I won't be harmed."

Spud looked around. "Hey...where's your pal?" he asked.

Red said darkly, "Omnirus...she has fled like the worm she is. I believe her exact words were..." before his voice changed to that of Omnirus "...I trust that undead freak as far as I can throw him."

"Then that will make this much easier," said Chip's voice before he suddenly sprang out of Trixie's backpack and onto Red's neck. "This is going to sting...A LOT!" shouted Chip before sticking all thirty viral energy-charged fingers into the gaps into Red's neck armor.

Red roared "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" before he froze up and suddenly started singing a country western song.

"Huh, didn't expect that," said Chip before jumping down, "Ok, Smokey here's going to be incapacitated for a while, so we better hurry and stop the show."

Red managed to say, "When...I...purge...this...I'll...KILL YOU!" before he twitched and began doing a rendition of riverdance.

Matt, helped up by Kala managed to get a photo on his wrist comp. "This is gonna be great stuff," he said.

"Matt, maybe you should stay here," said Jake, "The song attack nearly took you out. Another blast and you might go down for good."

"Not a chance...You've never gone up against Ghoulwyrm," said Matt.

"Matt, you nearly got killed," said Kala, "You shouldn't go up against him again."

"Actually, that won't be a problem now," said Chip, "Now that I've had a first-hand exposure to Alice's debilitating music, I can tune our comm pieces to filter out the deadly part."

"See? No problem at all," said Matt, cockily.

"Unless Alice's song was more concentrated, then they would just be a temporary defense," said Chip.

"Let's just go get the creep," said Matt, annoyed

...

The huge crowd outside could be heard chanting 'ALICE! ALICE! ALICE!' Zyvar grinned as Alice walked towards the stage. "It's showtime," he said.

Zyvar's voice came over an intercom. "We're sorry to announce that, due to technical difficulties, the show will be delayed by 20 minutes."

The crowd outside let out audible moans and complaints. "What?!" snapped Zyvar, "Who'd dare to impersonate me?!"

Unfortunately for whoever was pulling the trick, a familiar voice said, "Nice one, Chip...wait...why's everyone glaring at...oh crap."

Zyvar growled and said, "I should have known." Zyvar pulled out a comm. "Red? Red, are you there?" he said before getting a confused look as Red apparently sang 'Come by ya' at him. "Erm...is this 555-1874?" he asked, confused.

"10-4, little buddy, I'm truckin' on out," came the reply.

Zyvar sighed and said, "Fortunately, I have a second line of defense here." He switched to another frequency and said, "Eliminate the intruders."

...

Matt was backed into a corner...his foes on all sides...ok, foes was pushing it a little. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DIDN'T TURN YOUR MIKE OFF!" yelled Draco, ignoring Kala who was being patted on the back by Trixie from laughing herself breathless.

"I thought Chip had turned it off," protested Matt, "It's not like anyone in the crowd heard it."

Chip yelled, "EVERYONE HEARD IT, YOU...BERK!"

"Hey, there's no reason for that kind of language," said Matt. Then Lao Shi shouted at him in very angry-sounding Mandarin. "Uh...that's not appropriate language either," said Matt.

Draco leaned over to Chip and whispered "What did he say?"

"You don't want to know," said Chip.

Jake butted in at that saying, "Hey...we gotta find Alice and stop her before she gives a killer performance."

"Hey guys, look what I found," said Spud. The others turned to see Spud holding a pair of instruments. "Which suits me better?" asked Spud before holding up the red and black electric guitar, "This one that says 'heavy metal rocker'," and then holding up a black and purple keytar, "Or this one that says 'techno music artist'?"

Matt went wide eyed. "Oh crap. Put em down...PUT EM DOWN!" he said, panicking.

"What? You're saying they're not me?" asked Spud. Suddenly, the guitar transformed into a robotic bird and the keytar transformed into a robotic bat and grabbed Spud. "Oh, robots in disguise," said Spud, "I did not see that coming." Matt tried to get his blaster only for Spud to be thrown at him, knocking them both out. A minute later, the rest of the gang followed.

"Ok, this was an unforeseen event," said Chip.

Just then, a pair of nearby speakers suddenly shifted into a pair of robots. "Looks like we've got some gatecrashers, Rumble," said the blue one.

"Yeah, let's show them the door," said the red one.

"That, however, was a bit more predictable," said Chip.

That...is...IT!" yelled Matt, sending a plasma blast at Rumble.

Rumble jumped out the way while Frenzy sent sonic pulses at the group.

Jake ducked as Matt was sent flying over his head from the blast.

"We can take these cyber clowns," said Draco. Just then, the robotic bat and bird flew out from the security office. "Oh, right, that makes things tricky," said Draco.

An angry plasma burst slammed into the wing of the bat, causing it to go off balance and slam into the wall with a pained metallic squeak.

Matt got up with a scary grin. "Ok, time to make all the robot toys go bye-bye," said Matt.

"Hey Laserbeak, how about a duet?" called Rumble. The bird shifted back into guitar mode before flying into Rumble's hand and a cord connected to the robot's speakers.

However, the sonic power of the two robots may not be quite an even match. Especially since they didn't quite notice how maniacal his grin was.

...

A sudden explosion caught Alice off guard and she looked around for the source. "It musta been the pyrotechnics," she said.

Zyvar, who had also seen the explosion, nodded weakly. "Yes...pyrotechnics...let's get this show a'rollin'," he said a little too quickly

"But the technical delay..." started Alice.

"A minor mistake, we're really ready right now," said Zyvar. Alice shrugged before wandering out onto the stage, Zyvar wincing at another explosion.

Just then, the four robots were tossed out through the side door and four angry dragons, an angry psueudo-dragon, and a miffed cyborg came through. "Ok, Ghoulwyrm, your show's cancelled," said Matt.

"Not yet," said Ghoulwyrm, "I've still got one last line of defense."

Jake stared at Ghoulwyrm "You were worried about that guy?" he said, smugly

"You haven't seen my true face," said Zyvar before huge claws burst through his hands and grabbed the sides of his face and pulled. The fake skin ripped apart as Ghoulwyrm slid out.

Spud looked at Ghoulwyrm and asked, "Is that what he really looks like?"

"Yes," said Kala.

"Ok, just checking," said Spud before screaming.

"Ok, so you're bigger and uglier than I thought," said Jake, "But I've beat worse than you."

"You really think I'd face you by myself?" said Ghoulwyrm before snapping his fingers.

Suddenly, the blue Scion xB charged through the back of the stage right at the group. The group scattered, Matt firing a few blasts at the car as it drove by. The car spun around before suddenly transforming into a large robot. "Inferior organics," said the robot, "Fall before the might of Soundwave." Suddenly, an ethereal shrieking blast of sound shot of Soundwave's speakers.

Ghoulwyrm waited happily for Matt to fall over stone cold dead, only for nothing to happen. "Wait, where's the bit where he falls over?" he asked, only for a slash to hit him at neck height. "Oh, son of a-" he began.

"Sorry, Ghouly, we've got protection against your banshee wails," said Kala as she sheathed her ion blade.

"Oh, do you?" asked Ghoulwyrm, "Soundwave, increase volume and concentration."

"Acknowledged, Ratbat, return, Operation: Banshee will not be stopped," said Soundwave. Ratbat transformed back into his keytar mode before growing and flying into Soundwave's hands.

Jake said, "Hey, you're not gonna fight us?"

Ghoulwyrm said "Erm...I'm comfortable here. It's not like my head's location only depends on balance," he said only for a blast to hit him in the chest, his body going one way and his head sailing through the air to land in front of Spud and Trixie.

"Ok, that is really nasty," said Trixie.

"I think that would a perfect excuse to barf," said Spud, "Speaking of which..." He quickly ran offstage.

Ghoulwyrm said in an annoyed voice, "Oh, just save time and put me in the bucket."

Meanwhile, Soundwave was channeling the synthesized banshee wail through Ratbat. It didn't have a broad enough range to get the crowd, but it was slowing down everyone on the stage.

"Chip...shut...that thing...up!" yelled Matt, hands over his ears.

"Banshee...power...too...much..." said Chip, "Must...disable...audio...receptors..." He clicked the side of his head before jumping and onto Soundwave. Soundwave dropped his fellow bot and tried to grab Chip

Meanwhile, Ghoulwyrm's body had found its way over to his head and had reattached itself. "You might as well surrender now," said Ghoulwyrm, "Once Alice is finished, not only this whole crowd but everyone watching it on TV will drop like flies. And there's nothing you can do to stop me." Suddenly, a powerful screech hit Ghoulwyrm in the back and sent him flying forward.

Alice stepped forward, clearly free of her hypnotic trance and looking very angry. "Yer synthetic banshee wail may be powerful, but it's nothin' ta de real McCoy," she said before shrieking at Ghoulwyrm again.

Matt watched with amused interest as Ghoulwyrm was pinned against a wall. "It's...it's beautiful," he said with a fake cry.

Ghoulwyrm unpeeled himself from the wall and turned with a snarl. "You ungrateful wretch!" he growled, "I took you off the streets, made you a star, and this is how you repay me?"

"Ye were gonna use me tae kill these poor people. I was nothin' but a gun to ye," said Alice coldly, her eyes glowing.

"So what? Soundwave can replicate your wail, I don't need you anymore," said Ghoulwyrm before splitting his muzzle in two and sending a sonic howl and Alice. Alice simply screamed back, easily overwhelming Ghoulwyrm's sonic attack and splatting him again.

Meanwhile, Chip had scrambled up onto Soundwave's shoulders, despite the robot's attempts to throw him off. Chip then stretched two arms forward and grab Soundwave on either side of his head before letting out a surge of viral energy.

Soundwave twitched, shuddered before the view on his eyes was replaced with a blue screen and a faint constant beep before he fell backwards.

"Wow, what did you do to him?" asked Jake.

"WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY?" yelled Chip.

Matt yelled, "CHIP...TURN! ON! YOUR! HEARING!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, I NEED TO TURN ON MY HEARING!" yelled Chip before clicking the side of his head, "Ah, that's better."

Matt said, "OK...Ok..."

"Critical error...all banshee data deleted," said Soundwave.

Ghoulwyrm said weakly, "What? You don't have backups?"

"Critical failure...worm virus erasing all data...duuuuuuurrrrrrrr..." toned Soundwave before suddenly making a busy signal.

"Well, it looks like yer plan's ruined," said Alice.

Ghoulwyrm glared at her and said, "This one, but it's hardly my last plan. You'll all be seeing me again very soon. And next time, I shall not be so easily foiled."

Matt walked up to Ghoulwyrm as he ranted before saying, "Oh, shut up," blasting Ghoulwyrm's head off again and kicking it as hard as he could.

Ghoulwyrm gave a screech of fury before his body flew off to find his head. Suddenly, Soundwave transformed into his vehicle mode and his minions attached clung onto him as he drove away.

Matt sighed, aiming a blast to take Soundwave out before a crash reminded him he'd forgotten one thing. "Oh...Red," he said, dully.

"I'm hoping he's only responding to that recall signal," said Chip.

Just then, a huge energy blast split the stage floor apart and Mecha Red crawled out of it, clearly having recovered from Chip's virus. This seemed to finally communicate to the audience that the show was over, given how they turned and began to flee. "WHERE IS THAT LITTLE TIN CAN?" roared Red.

"Erm...I'm not here," said Chip before hopping into Trixie's backpack.

Red turned to glare at Trixie's pack. "There," he said coldly, absently firing an energy blast in front of the others before advancing, only for Alice to get in his way. "Out of my way, creature," he said icily

"Ye're master's already fled, it's time for ye to go too," said Alice sternly.

Red smirked and said, "Your screams are useless on me. I am no longer made of flesh." Alice glared, not saying anything. "I have no quarrel with you...yet...NOW MOVE!" said Red, roaring the last part and reaching down to punch her aside.

Alice, however, just wailed at him, putting a bit more effort than she did with Ghoulwyrm. Red smirked, not effected, till he heard a rattle from his blaster arm and a integrity warning appeared on his vision. "What? How is this possible?" demanded Red.

"Banshee wails may not be able to kill robots, but they still pack a punch," said Kala.

Red glared, readying his blaster before the energy pack on his blaster, already agitated by the wail, gave up the ghost and exploded, blasting Red's arm off at the elbow.

"I suggest you leave before she makes the rest of you go boom," said Matt.

Red glared at Matt, aimed his other blaster arm for a second before snorting as his sensors picked up police chatter. "Another time," he said, aiming the blaster at the wall and escaping through the hole the shot made.

"Well, Ghoulwyrm's plan has been foiled and he and his crew have been sent packing," said Draco, "I think that about rounds everything up."

Spud said, "Hey...what about Alice?" looking at the now sad-looking banshee.

"I guess I'll be going back ta Ireland then," said Alice.

"Hey, no one says you have to leave," said Jake.

"But me fans were all scared away," said Alice, "No one will want to see my shows now."

Trixie said, "Hey...nobody knows what happened. Your producer just messed up your opening act."

"But I'm a banshee," said Alice, "I cannae sing fer them if it ends up puttin' them in the hospital." "Actually, I have a solution for that," said Chip before reaching into his chest compartment, "It's a good thing I sprung for the soundproof casing." He pulled out the spray bottle of adamocitune.

Matt glared. "You still have that?" he said annoyed.

"It wasn't meant for you," said Chip, "You were just a test subject. The reason I was working on this was because not only does adamocitune gives one a melodious singing voice, it also cancels out any secondary effects from a siren's mesmerizing call to a banshee's death scream. It also eliminates bad breath. Er, speaking of which..." Chip sprayed a small bit in Spud's mouth.

Matt winced. "What have we said about testing unstable chemicals on people who aren't in our crew?" he said.

"I have tested it," said Chip, "According to my data, a potato diet gives one bad halitosis."

"Whoa, no wonder Stacey didn't want to stand next to me," said Spud, "Why didn't anyone tell me my breath was that bad?"

Matt shrugged. "Bad breath?" he said.

Kala sighed. "Coming from someone who can spit plasma..." she said to herself

"The point being that Alice can continue her career," said Chip, "She just needs to take a dose before her live sessions. Allow me to demonstrate." He spritzed a bit into her mouth and said, "Now show us your stuff."

Matt shoved his helmet on, admittedly understandable given that, far from a vitamin deficiency, her song could potentially cause his own immune system to attack him and therefore was surprised when Alice sang as she had before, but minus the destruction.

"There, harmonic and harmless," said Chip, "Of course, I'll have to whip up a large batch for her to keep."

Alice sighed "I still cannae sing no more. Me producer turned out to be a undead monster and we kinda chased him off," she said

"Well, I do have some people who owe me a favor," said Lao Shi, "I shall see if MacTavish will be willing to see you."

"I...Kinda destroyed his office the last time I sung there." said Alice a little sheepishly only for Matt to said "Then we'll INSIST! I gotta have a few favors laying around."

"I don't know what ta say," said Alice, "I've never thought I'd have this much support over here in America."

"We magical creatures gotta stick out for each other," said Jake.

"You know, as nice as this scene is, I can't help but think I've forgotten something," said Chip.

...

Back at the apartment...

Morph was backing up into a corner, an enlarged flea towering over him. "Erm...down boy?" he asked. The flea just hissed at him and glared with its big red eyes. "Ok, I am definitely staying away from Chip's chemicals after this," said Morph.

* * *

Another chapter's up, quite promptly. It was an interesting spin with adding Irish influences to this chapter, shame we don't do it more often. Anyhow, Ghoulwyrm's making his move out into the open and you can be sure this is not the last we've seen of him in this story. He's only going to get more diabolical with nastier schemes. To find out what he'll be plotting next, keep an eye out for the next chapter. Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 3**

It was a nice day, so Matt had decided to go for a walk in the city. Jake tagged along since he was heading to the skate park and Matt just happened to be heading that way. As they went, Matt was filling Jake in about his more recently-acquired enemies.

"...and apparently Ghoulwyrm found Red after we smashed him...gave him a brand new robot body," said Matt, finishing his comments about Mecha Red.

"So all that magical power and knowledge plus a hi-tech robot body," said Jake, "Sounds really nasty. Speaking of hi-tech robots, what was with that car/walking loudspeaker?"

"Soundwave...not sure about him but he's usually around when Ghoulwyrm is," said Matt.

"And the flying instruments and the smaller robots?" asked Jake.

"His pets and minions, or maybe just minions," said Matt, "Hard to say with the smaller Cybertronians."

"Sounds like you've had it rough," commented Jake.

Matt glared and looked down at the magical cuff he was now calling the 'ankle biter'. "As if they weren't tough enough before," said Matt, "I mean, I already had enough to deal with what with chasing demons and finding Kala. Not to mention having to keep our own Cybertronians in line. But being shackled like this is really unfair."

"Whoa, whoa, you guys have your own transforming robots?" asked Jake.

Matt stopped, realizing he may have let something slip that he shouldn't have. "Erm...no?" he said.

Just then, a loud beep got their attention. They jumped back as a forklift drove in front of them. "Outta my way, pencil necks!" yelled a voice from its cab as it drove into the construction site they were passing.

"Geeze, talk about rude," said Jake.

Matt shrugged and said, "Eh, that's just Dirt Boss. He's always grumpy."

Matt froze at that and span as the forklift turned a corner out of sight. "No...that's not possible...he wouldn't have brought them," he whimpered.

"Matt, you ok?" asked Jake.

"Erm, I just need to check on something," said Matt as he walked into the construction lot. He glanced around, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary when he noticed a large dump truck with a scoop loader attached to it. "Ok...Long Haul...what are you doing here?" Matt yelled, advancing on the truck.

The driver's voice said, "Erm...who's Long Haul?" unconvincingly.

"Matt, why are you yelling at that dump truck's driver?" asked Jake.

"There is no driver," said Matt, "And he better fess up about it now."

"Uh, I have no idea what you're talking about," said the driver's voice.

Matt, without looking away, said into his comm., "Warden...send some spiderbots to my location. I found them some scrap metal to eat."

The dump truck yelped before suddenly transforming into a slightly turtle-like robot. "Please don't bring the spiderbots!" cried Long Haul, "I wasn't doing anything wrong, I swear!"

Then the forklift from before drove over and shifted into robot mode. "Long Haul, ya mook," snapped Dirt Boss, "Ya knows we ain't supposed to transform in front of these humans!"

"I thought it was you. How'd you get here? If it was Chip, fess up or it's spiderbot time," said Matt, darkly.

"Hey, ya didn't expect us to be stayin' in an impound lot while we're here, did ya?" said Dirt Boss, "Since we're grounded here, we figured we find some work and get paid. Chip pulled some strings to be working with some guys who won't find us weird."

Matt glared. "Who?" he growled only to turn to see several short construction workers with beards. Jake was also watching with surprise.

"Hey, who let these guys in here?" shouted one of them.

"Whatever anyone's been sayin', there's no illegal here," said another.

"The Dragon Council never made any rules about workin' with alien robots," said a third.

Jake blinked before saying, "Oh, I get, you guys are dwarves."

"Yeah and these bot guys have been helpin' us...till this idiot came in," said one of the dwarves, looking at Matt.

Matt looked at the dwarves and counted them up. "Seven dwarves. Shouldn't you guys be dig-dig-digging in a mine or something?" said Matt.

The closest dwarf grabbed Matt's shirt front and pulled him down with a lot more strength than Matt would have expected. "Ya got a problem, funny boy?" snapped the dwarf.

"Not at all...just wondering why you've got several semi-trustworthy alien robots doing the digging instead," said Matt, innocently.

"We got an arrangement goin'," said Dirt Boss, "We do the big heavy stuff, they do the smaller detail we can't reach. It's a lot faster than what yous other humans can get done."

Just then, an excavator, a cherry picker, a huge steamroller, and a cement truck/bulldozer drove up. "Fifth floor girders are done, boss," said the cherry picker.

Matt twitched and said darkly, "Get back to the ship right now or so help me..."

"Hey, you can't make us leave," said the excavator.

"Yeah, we've got a contract," said the cement truck, "A union-protected contract."

Matt glared and tried to ignite a plasma orb.

"C'mon, we're earnin' the bread here," said the excavator, "You're out of a job, remember?"

Matt twitched at that, indicating that the proverbial straw had just broken the camel's back.

"Wait, wait, let's not fly off the handle," said Long Haul, "I'm sure what Scrapper meant was-" However, this caused Matt's attention to switch to Long Haul and he threw the plasma orb at him. Long Haul yelped and spun around, causing the orb to deflect off his back.

The result was quite interesting, the blast rebounding off several buildings before rocketing off in the direction of the docks.

...

Meanwhile, Omnirus was working on a small little device. "Yes," she said, "As soon as this thing's finished, I'll be back to my proper gender for keeps."

Mecha Red was also outside, recharging his solar stockpile. "What is that foolish device for?" he commented.

"It'll dampen Chloe's DNA that's been imposing itself over my base form," said Omnirus, "It's taken months to find all the right components, but it'll be so worth it to not have to deal with that stupid monthly problem."

Mecha Red looked at the device. "Fascinating...I..." he began before the two heard what sounded like a descending whistle.

"What the hell is th-?" began Omnirus.

...

Matt and the others watched the explosion. "Meh...nobody lives there," commented Matt.

"Matt, is it really that bad for these guys to be working here?" asked Jake, "They don't seem that bad. Really big, but not bad."

"You haven't seen the way they guzzle oil," said Matt, "Literally."

Jake looked a little skeptical so Matt said innocently, "Hey boys...free crude over there," pointing at one of the buildings scheduled for demolition

"ALRIGHT!" yelled the construction vehicles before driving over with great vigor. Pretty soon, the building was being razed to the ground.

"You're lucky we're already scheduled to demolish that place," said the chief dwarf, "I suppose we'll have to charge extra for the speedy demolition."

Matt turned to Jake. "See? Now let's go before they realize I lied," he said, innocently. However, as they were reaching the exit to the construction lot, a large robotic hand grabbed Matt. "Uh oh," said Matt before he was yanked back.

Jake watched as Matt was dragged out of view. "Erm...I'll leave you to it," he said, uncertainly before carrying on towards the skate park.

…

Chloe opened a sleepy eye from where she was snoozing in dragon form at the sound of an explosion. "Matt," she said in a yawn before hearing something coming towards the apartment door. "Wonder who that could be," she said dryly before shifting to human form.

She walked over to the door before opening it to see Jake's magical Shar Pei there. "Hey, Chloe," said Fu Dog, "I heard you were stuck here and thought I'd bring over something to cheer you up."

Chloe looked down a little further to see a box of dog biscuits in a basket. "Oh...lovely," she said icily.

Fu Dog walked into the safehouse and said, "Not too bad a place. It looks perfect for a poker night."

"No...just no," said Chloe, rubbing her forehead and walking in after Fu. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"Well, the thing is, I played poker a couple of nights ago, stakes got high and..."

"You want to bum some money off of us," said Chloe in an annoyed tone.

"Just $50 until next Tuesday," said Fu Dog, "I asked Gramps for cash, but you know how he is about gambling."

Chloe glared. "No. Our creds are confiscated till the trial and I wouldn't give you it anyway...and definitely not for some dog biscuits," she said.

Just then, Kala popped her head into the room and asked, "Hey, Chloe, what's going on?" She spotted the basket and said, "Ooh, snacks." She walked over, picked up the box before opening it and popping a few biscuits into her mouth. Kala noticed Chloe's odd look and asked, "What?"

Chloe turned to glare at Fu, "The answers still no. Out of interest, what happens if you don't pay?"

"Well, that imp said it'll come out of my 'stretchy, wrinkled skin'," said Fu Dog, "C'mon, just a little loan? You know what's it like to own a dog, right?"

Just then, the door knocked and Chip's voice called, "Stand aside, I'm coming in." A second later, he walked in holding Chupy and Weirdwolf on leashes, Saline in a glass box, and V-Quip under another arm.

"All too well," said Chloe darkly before saying, "Why don't I meet this imp friend of yours and explain matters? Matt's the one who's tagged, not me."

"Is Fu trying to bum money from you?" asked Chip.

"Just $50," said Fu Dog.

"Like I told you before, you want money, earn it," said Chip, "All play and no work makes- CHUPY, NOT ON THE COUCH!"

Kala watched as Chip pulled Chupy back. "Ok...why are the mascots here? Sorry Saline," she said, apologizing as Saline sparked angrily.

"The pet quarters are being inspected and the cleaners demanded these guys be taken out, especially when Chupy gave one a 'lovebite'," said Chip, "Which means I'll be looking after them all day."

The group jumped as loud footsteps were heard out in the deserted street. Chloe sighed as Kala went to look. "Let me guess. My brother in some kind of problem," she said.

"Er, yes," said Kala.

A minute later, the door opened and Matt stomped in. The stomping wasn't just because of the bad mood he was in, but because of the blocks of concrete covering his feet.

"Er, what-" started Chloe.

"Thirty minutes stuck in building foundation, don't mess with the Constructicons, end of story," snapped Matt. Chloe opened her mouth again only for Matt to say, "And yes...the concrete is making the bracelet bite me," before seeing Fu and the other 'pets' of the gang. "Ok...10 seconds to explain then bracelet or not, I will snap," he said.

"Pet quarters being inspected, Fu Dog wants money for poker debt, I'm stuck petsitting today," said Chip.

Matt grabbed Chip and held him up. "No, you're stuck chiseling off the concrete your employees trapped my legs in today," said Matt in a tone that forbade refusal on pain of extreme pain.

Chip turned desperately to the others. "Erm...you guys could do it faster..." he began only for Kala to say "I can't. I'm gonna phone Jumba and the others to let them know we're ok and there's no phone here."

Chloe said, "And I have to go help Fu keep his fur."

Matt said darkly, "Get chipping or its trash compactor time."

"Hey, no worries, pal," said Fu Dog, "For $50, I'll make sure your pets are safe and sound for 24 hours."

Matt stopped at that, memories of the first week of Chupy's existence fresh like a scar in his mind...coincidentally like the real ones Chupy had left. "Erm...you do realize these guys aren't local. Saline for example is capable of 400,000 vo-"

"Hey, I'm a magical dog, remember?" said Fu Dog, "I've petsat a lot worse over the centuries. These guys will be no trouble, especially compared to that bunyip of Mrs. Zinny's." He shuddered involuntarily and said, "Ooh, the flippers, those nasty flippers." Even the pets stared before Fu said "Don't ask."

Chloe nodded weakly, "Ok...where's this imp then?"

Just then, a high-pitched voice was heard outside. "Yo, Fu Dog! I know you're in there! You're not getting away this time!"

Chloe shrugged, "Never mind."

...

Chip, being the most negotiable, business-minded, and greatest risk to Matt's ire, was sent out to deal with the imp. "As you can see, my associate is currently in the process of acquiring the money he owes you," said Chip to the imp, "We simply have to finish working out the deal and then he'll, I mean, you'll get paid."

"Fu had the chance to pay me back. I want my 50 bucks. I know he's in there," said the imp angrily, trying to peer past Chip.

"Of course, of course," said Chip, moving in front of the imp, "I have that money right here. He's just waiting for permission to start the job before he can pay you."

"What are you talking about, tin can? Fu Dog's working for you?" said the imp, confused.

"Briefly, it's a part-time job," said Chip, "I'm not sure he's cut out for long-term...commitment to this line of work."

The imp glared and pushed past Chip into the apartment. "Fu Dog?" he called out angrily only to see a female human leaning against the far wall.

The imp glared at Chloe and said in a demonic voice, "Stand aside, mortal. I will claim that which rightfully belongs to me." The tone didn't really do anything to make him seem scary, especially since he was slightly shorter than Chip.

The human raised an eyebrow and said in a bored voice, "Oh my...a monster...whatever will I do?" before yawning.

"Do not trifle with me, I have greater power than you can imagine," said the imp.

The human raised an eyebrow and said in a bored voice, "Oh my...a monster...whatever will I do?" before yawning.

"Exactly," said the imp before sending a bolt at the human's foot. It really didn't have much strength and should have just given her a hot foot. However, the lightning seemed to disappear into her foot.

The human chuckled. "Oh...tingly." she said, before holding up a hand like she was holding a baseball and making a lightning ball appear. "Have you heard about the C.P.S?" she asked, grinning.

"CPS? What?" asked the imp, bewildered.

The human's grin became more sharklike. "I'll take that as a no. Well, let's start with the obvious fact that I'm something other than human. I also know Mr. Fu, so if you threaten him...ever again..." said the human, before grinning to reveal what were clearly dragon teeth, "...Well...Dr. Lao said I needed more protein."

The imp seemed to literally shrink with fear a bit. "Uh, sure, I'll be going then," he said with a squeak.

"That's a good idea." said the human, leaning down to look at the imp.

"Uh, I'll just wait for him to send my money," said the imp before scampering off.

...

Chloe sighed. She had never really liked the same approach that her brother liked. "Ok. Now to find Fu before Chupy eats him," she said to herself.

She walked back into the warehouse, intending to take over the petsitting. She was about to open the door to the living room when she heard Kala say, "I know Matt can be a bit...high-strung, but Chloe really is nice."

"Yeah right," said Fu Dog's voice, "The girl's wound tighter than an alarm clock and that alarm clock's rigged up to a time bomb. She really need to let off that stress before she blows something up."

Chloe stopped before saying to herself, "Then again...maybe Chupy is karma in disguise," before walking out the apartment.

Kala got up from the couch and said, "Anyhow, I have a bunch of calls to make. Good luck with the petsitting."

"Luck? I don't need luck," said Fu Dog, "I'm a professional."

How professional Fu was wouldn't be found out as it was at that point that Chupy decided to see what dog flavor was like and tackled Fu from behind.

"Yeah, a professional of putting their paw in it," muttered Kala before walking out.

...

Meanwhile, Jake had finally gotten to the skate park. "Hey, Jakie, what took ya so long?" asked Trixie as she skateboarded over to them

"Well, I was having a conversation with Matt, before he got some supernatural construction workers upset," said Jake.

"I wanted to be a construction worker once," commented Spud, "But then I realized it wouldn't be as much fun as a street performer."

"Spud...you really gotta think bigger. It's not like you can't do it," said Trixie with an eye roll.

"Oh, you mean like I should a Las Vegas prestidigi, prestodiggy, uh, magician?" asked Spud.

"I think Trixie's saying you should put your mind more to use," said Jake, "You know you have potential."

"Yeah, not to mention you can get better bucks from better jobs," said Trixie.

"Oh, you mean like what those guys are being paid for?" asked Spud, pointing. Jake and Trixie turned to see a small convoy of trucks passing the skate park. From the insignias on the side, they looked like the National Guard.

...

...except that N.G. didn't have the sort of stuff in the back that the middle truck did. Sgt Alvis of the NSC Marines looked at the metallic insectoid. "I don't envy you mercs, driving around with a T-3 mech in the trunk," he said.

"It's just a robot, an inanimate object," said a trooper, "It won't do anything as long as it's turned off."

"Tell that to the poor gits that dug it up on Freedom's Gate," said Alvis, looking at the optic.

"That's not empire?" said one of the CPS mercs.

Alvis shrugged, "Unless the empire was around when the Atlanteans were."

Suddenly, the truck came to a sudden stop, lurching everyone forward. During this, no one noticed Alvis poking around the mechanoid's exposed wiring. However, they did notice when he opened up the truck's back and jumped out.

"Sarge? Hey, where ya goin?" called one of the mercs before his partner nudged him and pointed a shaking finger...at the red light slowly appearing on the central optic of the mech...

...

System Start

Running system check...shield systems disabled...weapons at 45% efficiency and rising...

Enviro-Scan complete...ALERT: Shar-Khan contact in vicinity...unauthorized homo-sapiens in vicinity

Commencing combat response

...

Jake, Trixie, and Spud watched as suddenly the convoy lurched to a stop and someone jumped out of the back of the biggest truck. A few seconds later, the truck buckled to one side, as if something big was trashing inside it. The guardsmen in the front and rear trucks were just as shocked, jumping out with pistols out before a guy wearing CPS combat gear was thrown out the upturned truck...literally, going far enough to hit the skate park's half pipe.

"What's going on in there?" asked Trixie.

"Uh, a military experiment is breaking loose?" suggested Spud.

A purple beam lanced out of the top of the truck before spli9tting in two, the two beams going in opposite directions to slice the truck in half. An insectoid device on several cable-like legs slowly rose up from the wreck to stare around with the red searchlight of its optic, not even noticing the gunfire from the panicky guardsmen.

"Called it," said Spud.

"Somehow, I don't think that thing's from Earth," said Jake.

The mech finally noticed the guardsmen before sending them sprawling with one simple sweep of its tentacles before it looked up and stared right at Jake.

...

Shar-Khan identified

Threat Priority Tritus

Procedure: Terminate target. Collateral damage deemed acceptable

...

A slit in the bottom of the body opened and a three pronged tentacle came out, a purple glowing orb appearing between the prongs.

"Guys, I think we better move," said Jake before they got on their skateboards and sped away from the mech.

It was a good thing too as the same purple beam lanced out a second later, blowing a half moon out of the half-pipe. The mech hissed in a frighteningly insectoid fashion before it loped after them with frightening speed, crushing parked cars and scattering drivers.

"Why is this thing after us?" asked Trixie.

"I bet it's me it wants," said Jake, "You guys have to get away, you're not its targets."

A beam blast demolished an alley opening before a shadow briefly blotted out the sun as the mech literally jumped over and in front of them

"Uh, I don't think it's giving us that option," said Spud.

"Executing command Tritus. All Atlantean 'Shar-Khan' teams are viable targets." said the mech in a hissing voice before charging up to fire.

"Well, this target moves fast," said Jake before springing up and changing into dragon form as he took to the air. "Try and hit me now," challenged Jake before he had to dodge a car the mech threw at him. "Hah...missed me," taunted Jake before yelping as he had to do a barrel roll to avoid a hail of blasts. Nobody bothered to think where the car was headed.

...

Matt lay down on the bed, finally free of his concrete overshoes. "Ah...finally, some peace and qui-" he began before the far wall smashed apart to reveal the front half of a taxi. "...hmm...3 seconds. A new record," he said, calmly.

…

Meanwhile, Jake was flying around all the insectoid's laser blasts. "Ha, is that all you go creepy-crawly?" taunted Jake. A mechanical claw shot out, grabbing Jake by the leg and whipping him down to the bedrock. Another shot out, the claws shooting into the asphalt and pinning him. The third tentacles claws starting to spin like a buzzsaw.

"All Shar-Khan must be-" started the insectoid before suddenly being interrupted by a car horn playing 'La Cucaracha'. It looked up just in time for a red dune buggy to drive off what was left of the half pipe and plow into it.

The mech was sent head over heels, before its claws shot out, righting it. "Unauthorized attack acknowledged. Commencing response," the mech said, aiming two of its tentacles and firing a rapid hail of bursts at the dune buggy.

The dune buggy, surprisingly less damaged from its collision than one would expect, revved backwards to avoid the laser blasts before turning and driving around the mech. Several panels on its railing popped open to reveal some small blasters. "Comin' back at ya, mon," shouted a voice from the dune buggy as it sent its own hail of energy blasts at the mech.

The mech watched, as if waiting before one of the tentacles whipped out like a striking snake, sending the buggy spinning into a wall. "Unauthorized attack dealt with," said the mech, "Resuming Shar-Khan elimination."

But just as it was turning back to Jake, the dune buggy suddenly transformed into a tall four-armed robot. "Sorry, mon, but we ain't finished yet," said the robot before grabbing one of the mech's legs and slamming it into the wall.

The mech shrieked like an injured animal before firing a trio of blasts at the offending robot. The robot staggered back from the blasts, but didn't seem any worse for wear. "What's the matter, brah? Can't take a hit?" said the robot before running forward and delivering a series of punches.

His opponent however still had a few tricks, one of the apparent limp mech-tentacles suddenly coiling round the luckless bot's leg and pulling him off balance. The bot spun his arms around to keep balance, but ended up falling on his skid plat. He looked up to see the insectoid's blaster pointing right at its face. "Re-evaluating threat level: Threat level Ditinis. Termination required," said the mech coldly.

However, before it could fire, a blast of flame started scorching its top. The mech turned to face Jake, seemingly with a 'You did NOT just do that' expression. "I don't know much about space robots, but I'm pretty sure it's bad manners to blast a guy when he's down," said Jake, "You ok, big guy?"

The robot grinned and said, "Right as rain," before the railing from his dune buggy mode revealed its blasters and started shooting at the insectoid.

This time, the blasts impacted a translucent green field. "Directional shield defenses rebooted to 25%," chimed the mech before a fireball slammed into his back.

"25% ain't gonna be enough," said Jake.

"Yeah, especially for something like this," said the robot before using his unrestrained leg to kick the mech in what could be assumed to be its face. The mech staggered back but quickly reminded the robot that it still had a grip when it lifted the bot up by his leg.

"Ya mind lettin' go?" said the robot, "I prefer to have something solid beneath me wheels." Then he kicked the robot again, this time keep his foot in place while the wheel in the middle of it spun, causing an ear-splitting whine of rubber grating over metal.

The mech settled for throwing the robot in the vague direction of Jake.

...

Despite the earlier setback of the plasma orb blowing up her equipment, Omnirus was able to get most of the device assembled. "It's a good thing I could salvage most of the stuff," she said, "If anything worse had happened, I'd have been set back for months."

Red was watching again...more precisely watching the flashes of what looked like weapons fire from near where the CPS had one of their safe houses apparently. "Just don't lose it and be glad I had some Starbane in my old alchemical supplies," he said darkly before he started tracking something that shot up from where the fight apparently was.

"Oh, I won't," said Omnirus, "If anything happens to this, I'll have to start all over in another universe."

Red continued to track the object before his optics brightened, the equivalent of widening eyes and he flew off the roof. Omnirus turned at the sound of his boosters. "Red...what are you do..." she began before Dune Runner hit the roof, going through and sending Omnirus down with him...as well as squashing the device again.

Dune Runner groaned as he sat up. "Dat bot sure can throw," he said before noticing the shocked Mecha Red, "Er, what's up, brah?"

Red, despite everything, wasn't in the mood for fighting and he'd scanned Omnirus's mental state after the first device's loss, he wouldn't wish that rage even on Spyro. "I'd run, before Miss Omnirus comes round," he said.

"Say what?" asked Dune Runner before noticing who he landed. "Oops, sorry," he said before shifting into vehicle mode and driving off.

Omnirus was actually conscious, staring blankly at the disc that had been the half build orb device. "Muh...muh...muh..." she said weakly

"Back to the old drawing board then?" said Mecha Red.

The scream of outrage that Omnirus let out was auditable even from Liberty island.

...

The mech stared up at Jake. Now that the distractions were gone, it could deal with the Shar-Khan infiltrator with ease. However, the fight with the robot has taken its toll on the mech. Jake could clearly see several breaches in the insectoid's hull which exposed the wiring underneath.

A beam blast between his ears reminded him that this thing was playing for keeps, the blast hitting where the taxi that had been thrown earlier was lodged. It apparently hit the fuel tank because the taxi exploded in a blast of flame. Jake was forced to fly back a little. Luckily, the taxi must have been low on fuel as the explosion didn't set the wall on fire.

However, the explosion did do some significant damage. "THAT'S IT! NOW I'M MAD!" yelled Matt's voice.

Jake turned in surprise to see a blackened Matt standing in the hole. "I don't care how expensive you are, you tin can. I've spent the last hour getting my feet de-concreted..." he said, igniting a plasma orb between his hands and yelling "...AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" before throwing the orb over arm at the mech.

Apparently, the shield was now up more than 25% as the blast didn't damage the mech. However, it did send it tumbling backwards. "Danger: Confirmed combat grade Shar-Khan unit. Upgrading combat grade to Dominitus," said the mech getting up again.

Just then, several CPS trucks pulled up beside the battlesite and several troopers jumped out, aiming at the insectoid mech. The mech turned and fired a lancing beam across the first row of troops, melted gear all that was left in the beams wake. "TAKE IT DOWN!" yelled one of the others, arcs of electrical energy shooting out into the mech's optic, causing it to shriek and spasm in place

Jake didn't waste any time and poured on more heat while Matt threw another couple of plasma orbs. The mech continued to shriek, cracks appearing in its surface before it exploded, the detached tentacles falling to the ground.

Jake landed and resumed human form. "That was one nasty robot," he said, "You guys really need to keep better control over your droids."

Several laser sights blossomed on Jake, a few more on Matt who was landing too. A trooper walked forward. "Captain Lynch. Thought you'd be at the center of this fowl up," he said in a distorted voice before retracting his helmet.

Matt gaped a bit before snapping, "You! What are you doing here?!"

The trooper was the Dante that the gang had met not long before dealing with McNeil's Antarctica base. "Well, that McNeil guy fished me out the Pacific after you left me for the sharks, offered me a job, guess what? I'm in charge of the squad keeping you in-city," he said with barely concealed glee.

"He hired you?! What sort of maniacal, psychopathic..." started Matt before pausing and saying, "Actually, that does sound his style."

"Yup...so you get your freak butt back in that safehouse and..." began Dante before seeing the gaping hole, Morph waving from it. "You know...you bunk up at CPS headquarters," he continued.

Now it was Matt's turn to barely conceal his glee. "Oh, shoot," he said, "And I had just gotten the furniture just as I wanted it too."

"Shut up and get your team ready to move," glowered Dante before seeing Jake and his friends, "And you're not supposed to show off in public. I read how they had to pump a mind wipe gas into orbit after that 'Ballan' incident."

"Hey, that wasn't our fault," said Jake, "We were invaded by demons."

"Don't know, don't care. McNeil's not taking chances," said Dante, rudely.

"Hey, you can't just-" started Jake before all of Dante's aimed at Jake.

"Yes, I can, and I can get away with it too," said Dante.

Jake growled again as Matt said, "You're probably not allowed to shoot dragon council employees though."

Just then, Dune Runner came driving up the street. He stopped when he saw the mech in pieces. "Aw, don't tell me I missed the best parts," he said.

"Sir?" said one of Dante's men, panicky as Dune Runner transformed and walked up.

Dante stared before chuckling, "Oh, you're for it now, Cybertronians aren't allowed on Earths."

"He has a license," said Matt, "Besides, I'm pretty sure there are some rules against you being off your own Earth."

"Not really, McNeil said it was legal. Anyhow, half the NSC would be guilty if that was true," said Dante.

"Ahem," said Dune Runner, "I'll have ya know I was built on dis Earth. I was brought ta life on anothuh Earth. As far as I'm concerned, and me papers prove, I'm Earthborn."

"We'll see what McNeil has to say later...NOW GET TO CPS CONTROL OR I'LL SHOOT YOU!" yelled Dante.

Matt smirked and said, "I forgot how much fun it was to torment a Dante."

Dante gave Matt a confused look before turning to his men and saying, "Pick up the mech, and don't miss any pieces."

Matt waved tauntingly as Dante leaved. "Bye bye...we're gonna have a LONG career together." he called, laughing as Dante visibly twitched.

...

The CPS Headquarters is much more comfortable than the safehouse the gang had been staying at. The experiments got settled the way they usually do; by finding where the coffee's stored, ascertaining how much security is put around it, and finding blackmail material to make others get the coffee for them.

To this end, Chip and the others had 'volunteered' to help move Matts private items to his room. The four experiments, Draco, Chip, Contrinus and Morph peered into the open safe, seeing a few strange devices, including a portable ship log with a damaged plasma magnum sitting on it.

"Ooh, I bet this has some juicy stories in it," said Draco, "Think you can hack it open?"

"Does Contrinus preen herself whenever she sees her reflection?" asked Chip rhetorically.

Contrinus, who was preening herself in her reflection showing in the safe door, stopped and looked a little embarrassed as Chip went into it.

The instant he began probing the code, his head felt like it was exploding. A voice, a younger Matt, said, "Hey there, I don't suppose you know the passcode, do you? I had Aria make this low level AI for security."

"Uh...open up, please?" suggested Morph.

"Nope, well, given that Matt was only gonna share with Chloe when he found her...hmm, your memory bank says she was found...you get one more chance," said the virtual Matt's voice.

Chip gulp when he felt that voice inside his head. "Uh, guys," he said, "I think it managed to hack me."

"Oh, your buddies can't hear you. I locked down your voice box for now. Like I said...one more chance or its virus time," said Matt cheerfully but now Chip could sense the steel under the voice that promised that the AI wasn't bluffing.

Chip tried to charade his situation to the other guys, but unfortunately, he had forgotten just who he was trying to play charades with.

"Look, if you don't give me an answer, I'll have to deploy the GPC virus, as much as it pains me too," said VR Matt.

Chip's silent waving got a bit more frantic at that, which didn't really help the situation. Draco looked puzzled before saying "Erm...coffee cake?"

Chip mentally faceplanted as the AI, having heard said, "I'm afraid I have to count that as an answer...and it's wrong. Shame, my advice, ask the real me to read this file, have fun," before, to the others, Chip was engulfed in magenta electricity before being forcibly unplugged and embedded in the far wall.

Morph ran over to Chip and said, "Chip, Chip, are you okay? Speak to me!"

Chip glared and snapped, "I'm gonna kill- FARFIGNEWTON!"

"Not sure who Farfignewton is, but I don't wanna be him," said Morph.

Chip glared. "No...Lynch booby trapped that-TEAPOTCHEDDER-file with some kinda-OSTRICHHAMBAG- program...it's given me a -SANDVICHSANDVICH-virus," he said darkly, his eye spinning at each random word

"Not a Sandvichsandvich virus!" cried Morph before looking at the others and asking, "What's a Sandvichsandvich virus?"

"No...it's a NANANANANANANANANNANANANA..." tried Chip before apparently getting stuck in a loop, the vibration causing him to judder out the door and round the corner like some kind of washing machine.

"Chip can be real funny sometimes," said Morph.

Matt's voice behind them said in a deadly angry voice, "You shouldn't read things that don't belong to you."

The experiments turned to see a ticked-off Matt. Morph, as usual, was oblivious to the oncoming pain. "Hey Matt, just looking through your old stuff," said Morph pulling out the plasma magnum, "I wonder if this still works."

Draco and Contrinus just managed to get away from Morph before the plasma magnum went off in Morph's face, splatting him against the ceiling.

"Now I see why you don't use that," said Draco.

Matt grabbed both Contrinus and Draco...by the neck and lifted them to eye level. "I will say this only once: that safe's contents are off-limits...if you look at it again...I will make it my personal mission to remove you from existence...is that clear?" he said in an icy voice.

"Geeze, what could be in there that makes you so- Oh my, you killed someone, didn't you?" said Contrinus.

"Uh, I don't think that's helping," said Draco.

Matt's voice went cold. "That log is a living reason why the NSC is careful what universes know about it...and what happens when you ignore that rule," he said.

Draco and Contrinus looked confused. "Uh, I think you lost us," said Draco.

"You remember what the empire nearly did to Spyro's world?" said Matt, sadness in his voice now. Draco and Contrinus nodded. Matt continued, "That log's record was almost worse."

"Wow, we were just looking for embarrassing incidents," said Contrinus, "We didn't want to find something that bad."

"All those contents are out of bounds, much worse than Avalar if they ever came out...and I would kill to keep it a secret," said Matt before dropping the experiments and turning away, "I'd go find Chip. The virus'll wear off in half an hour and it will wipe the last 4 hours of his memory,"

"Not like anything important happened during that time," said Contrinus.

"Oh no...we gotta find Fu," said Matt, his anger vanishing under terror.

"What? Is he in trouble for gambling debts again?" asked Draco.

"Worse," said Matt.

...

Fu peered out from behind an overturned table, a saucepan on his head as the gang's mascots effectively demolished the shop. Whatever piece of electronic wasn't being chewed on by Weirdwolf were being shorted out by Saline and V-Quip. "Ok, enough playtime," said Fu, "Are you guys hungry by now?"

Chupy turned to look at Fu with a toothy grin. "Uh oh." said Fu, recognizing the look before Chupy tackled him.

Things would have gotten worse until Lao Shi walked in. He watched his shop being torn apart about five seconds before he started yelling in Mandarin and finishing with, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY SHOP?!"

* * *

This is sort of the odd one out of the chapters. Ghoulwyrm may not be present, but there still is much calamity. The droid in this chapter was made by a very old race that modern society had barely known of, until more recent times. For more information, check out my co-author's stories, namely 'Soulless Abyss'. The ship log is from another story that we'll hear more of eventually. Tomorrow's chapter will have Ghoulwyrm appearing and he'll be taking a larger role. Check it out then and please review.


	4. Chapter 4

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 4**

With so much excitement happening every other day, it's sometimes hard to notice the year passing by and the annual events that follow. Still, some events have a tendency to creep up on you, often ones that are least wanted.

For rifters, citizens of Nullspace, those who had been pulled from their worlds by warp tears, there was always one day that was the hardest and the saddest of the year: their birthdays. Therefore, most citizens of Nullspace check on the recipient's mood before celebrating. Of course, some have less sense of caution than others.

Morph, in a unique show of forethought had somehow found out Megan's birthday and was currently sneaking into her room with a party popper and some coconut cake he had 'borrowed' from CPS headquarters canteen.

He probably should have waited until she had woken up, but he assumed that 'cake in bed' was better than just 'breakfast in bed'.

"Oh, Meeegan…" he said softly before, when that just got a mumbled response, he jumped it up to experiment level, morphed into Yaarp and began honking while singing 'happy birthday'.

That immediately got Megan's attention. She sat up in bed and glared at the little noisemaker as he made enough racket to wake up everyone on the floor.

...

Matt was asleep in the room next door...until Morph's rendition woke the whole barracks up. It took him a moment to make out the words but when he did hear it, he shot upright with a fearful look. "Oh hell no," he said.

...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!" finished Morph as he honked out a crescendo. He shifted back to his normal form and held up the coconut cake. "So who wants some birthday cake?" he asked, "I know I do."

Megan glared at that. "You woke me up...for THIS?" she growled.

"Who doesn't want birthday cake in bed?" said Morph, "I used your summoning candles to make it extra special. Let's just light those real quick." He then shifted into Splodyhead and his nose glowed red.

Megan went bugeyed. "NOT THOSE CANDLES..." she began before a beam of light from each candle shot up to intersect and open a red hole. A tentacle shot out, about to grab Morph before seemingly shrugging and taking the cake instead, the portal closing behind it.

"Hey! Give me back that cake!" shouted Morph, "That was for me, er, that was for Megan!"

Megan growled as she shifted into Lady NegaMorph form. Morph looked at her and said obliviously, "Don't worry, we can get another cake. And then we'll go avenge the cake we lost."

…

Matt and a team from one of the other barracks were almost at Megan's door when a dark fireball blasted it off its hinges, a splat on it said, "Someone needs more sleep," in a rasping voice.

Matt bent over the burnt cinder that Morph currently was. "What did I tell you about birthdays?" he asked.

Morph seemed to think before he said, "Oh no, did I forget your birthday too?" The two mercs with Matt rolled their eyes and started taking the smashed door, complete with Morph, away.

Matt reached round to knock on the wall. "Is it safe to enter?" he called cautiously...and when no more hellfire emerged, peered round. Megan was curled up on her bed, still in her half-alien form. She didn't look so much mad as she did depressed. "I'm coming on...no blasty," called Matt before carefully walking inside. All Megan did to respond was turn her back towards Matt.

Matt slowly walked forward before his rarely-used sense of 'catching on' triggered. "This is the day they booted you?" he asked carefully.

"Not quite," said Megan, "But I remember the parties they used to throw me. I never would have thought I'd be spending a birthday away from them."

"Hey, they kicked you out for no good reason. You're better off without them," said Matt, remembering what Megan had told him ages ago.

"I suppose, but I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't had these powers in the first place," said Megan, "I could have had a normal life."

"I know the feeling. I wonder what life would have been like if I had listened to the 'do not touch' sign," said Matt

"That's not quite the same," said Megan, "You got your powers by accident. Me, I was born with them, even if I didn't know it then."

"I still lost it. You'll be alright," said Matt.

"Maybe," said Megan, "But I'm not in a party mood right now."

"Ok...you let us know when you are. Heck, ask Cmdr Leyton and he can hook you up for a trip into the city," said Matt.

"I know how to find my way around the Big Apple, thanks," said Megan.

"You never saw the magic quarter, CPS has access now that two registered dragons are on their payroll," said Matt, with a smirk.

"I'm a witch, remember?" said Megan, "I can find my way to the magic quarter."

"Ok...where is it?" said Matt.

"Well, it's, um, er...I DON'T HAVE TO TELL YOU!" snapped Megan before zapping Matt with her heat vision.

...

Chloe wandered into the canteen, tazer blasted Draco out of the way of the coffee machine and poured a cup, yawning before stopping as a smoldering Matt walked in and got a cola out the freezer. "Megan needs some alone time..." he said, dully.

"Of course," said Chloe, "I remember my first birthday in Nullspace."

"Hold on," said Matt, dully before walking over to an extinguisher and blasting himself

Gary walked in at that, looking for breakfast. He noticed Matt using the fire extinguisher and asked, "What did you do to upset Chloe this time?"

Matt glared. "It was Megan, first nullspace birthday combined with hairtrigger temper equals heatbeams," he said darkly.

"It's Megan's birthday?!" cried Gary, "Zut alores, I forgot to get her something."

"I wouldn't...remember Sgt Avanis?" said Matt darkly.

"Er, I'm not sure I met him," said Gary.

"That's the point...poor guy snapped in the middle of diffusing a pasaki orb on Mars's third moon," said Matt.

Draco looked confused "Mars only has 2."

Chloe said darkly, "Exactly."

"What does that have to do with Megan's birthday?" asked Gary.

"Megan has the magical potential of a dreadnought...covered in petrol. Are you gonna be the one to throw a match on that?" said Matt.

"No, of course not," said Gary.

"Then DON'T mention birthdays...not until next year," said Matt, warningly.

"So...I don't have to get her a present?" asked Gary.

"Get one...save it. She should be ok next year," said Chloe.

"Still, I feel I should do something for her," said Gary.

"Ok...we warned you," said Matt, walking back out with the cola.

"Now...what would be a good gift for Megan?" asked Gary.

"Why not give her a nail file? Contrinus likes them," said Draco.

"She's not a bird, Draco," said Chloe from the table she was drinking at.

Draco scratched his head and said, "Uh, maybe jewels? Girls are supposed to like jewels, right?"

"That might work, but our finances are frozen by the NSC...and unless you're gonna rob a shop...no," said Matt.

Draco shrugged and said, "I'm outta ideas."

"That didn't take too long," muttered Chloe.

"Hey, she knows you love her, take her out somewhere romantic," said Matt, before noticing the group's stares. "What?" he asked.

"That's...actually a good idea," said Chloe.

"So? You don't have to act that surprised," said Matt, "I can have good practical ideas not related to combat."

"Yeah, once every blue moon," muttered Draco.

"I have an organic version of the GPD virus..." commented Matt absently, to Chloe's confusion.

"The GPD what?" asked Gary.

Matt said smugly, "Noting you need to worry about. Now go find Megan before a passerby accidentally upsets her."

...

Elsewhere, Ghoulwyrm was in the midst of an important experiment. A cauldron of bubbling potion was slowing being turned as Ghoulwyrm was looking over several organic pods that were attached to a nearby wall. Ghoulwyrm looked at one of the pods as Omnirus came in, wearing a gas mask. "Have you finished yet? That stuff smells awful," she complained.

"Their incubation is nearly done," said Ghoulwyrm, "But I need to find a more prime specimen to use. Ah, this one looks promising." He prodded one pod that squirmed in response.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...do they have to smell like feet though?" said Omnirus rudely.

"I don't smell anything," said Ghoulwyrm.

"That's because your nose is running," said Omnirus, pointing towards the door where a small piece of Ghoulwyrm's skull was running down the hallway.

"Fine, I'll turn the ventilation on, happy?" said Ghoulwyrm dully, sending a bolt into a panel on the far end of the room.

Omnirus looked into the cauldron and asked, "What is this smeg anyways?"

"A very special potion," said Ghoulwyrm, "It gives whatever creature that imbibes it the perfect minion personality. It's a shame it only works on nonsentients."

"So...what are you using it on?" asked Omnirus, looking in a box and leaning back.

"This one, as soon as it hatches," said Ghoulwyrm poking the same pod again, "Which won't take too long now."

"Ok...is this another of your 'get recognition quick' schemes? They're not really working, you know," said Omnirus.

"Not really," said Ghoulwyrm, "I need more disposable minions and zombies are too fragile for our line of work." Just then, the pods started quivering and little shrieks came out of them.

"What the smeg was THAT?" said Omnirus, backing up a bit.

The pods started breaking open as small insectoid bodies crawled out of them. They were dripping with slime as they emerged, but they quickly dried. Once they were fully hatched, Omnirus could see the creatures resembled mosquitos, only they had four legs that ended in long thin fingers and toes, their two pairs of wings resembled those of a bat's and their head were mainly skull-shaped with batlike faces and overlapping teeth.

"What the blitznak are THOSE?" she whimpered, scrabbling back as one of the creatures almost grabbed her blindly.

"Myosquitos," said Ghoulwyrm as he picked up the one that had hatched from the pod he had picked, "An intriguing race of creatures, they make very suitable minions and are easily replaced. Someday I must track down the planet they come from." The myosquito in his hand hissed, its bottom jaw splitting in half as a long thin protuberance extended from its mouth.

Omnirus squeaked and jumped back. "Well...I guarantee that'll get people talking," she said weakly.

"But of course," said Ghoulwyrm as he picked up a very raw steak he had on the table and dipped into the cauldron. He held the tainted steak in front of the myosquito in his hand and said, "Here you go, your first meal." The myosquito gave a squeal and stuck its protuberance into the steak and sucking up its blood. Within seconds, the steak was dried up as jerky.

Omnirus slowly began to turn green. "That's just...wrong"

The myosquito started shuddering as gagging sounds came out of its throat. Then its head bloated to almost twice its previous side. There was a slight pop as a pair of batlike ears sprouted from the sides of its head and then a hiss as pent-up air exited the newly formed ears. The head shrank down to its previous size, only the face appeared more humanlike. The myosquito coughed before speaking in a squeaky voice, "I...am...honored that you would choose me to be your personal minion. It is a privilege to be in the service of such a great necromancer as you. Did I mention that you are positively the epitome of terror?"

Omnirus stopped, raising an eyebrow. "You're joking..." she said dully.

"It appears the minion personality potion is a success," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Of course it is, master," said the myosquito, "No one brews a more potent potion than you. There isn't a single rival to your skill in all the land."

"Nice work, Ghoulwyrm, you've invented the 'kiss-ass' potion," said Omnirus with a chuckle.

"Why shouldn't I treat Ghoulwyrm with respect?" said the myosquito, "He is the best in his field. He is the best in any field."

Ghoulwyrm frowned and said, "Perhaps I put in a little too much humility."

"Ya think?" said Omnirus

"And I bet Ghoulwyrm has a marvelous plan for his next plot. Oh, I shall do my best to make you proud," said the myosquito.

Omnirus rolled her eyes. "I think we can count this one as a reject," she said, readying an electrical orb.

The myosquito hissed at her before it spat a glob of red slime at her chest. Omnirus looked down and said, "What the?" The other myosquitos immediately turned towards Omnirus and extended their protuberances.

Omnirus stared for a split second before the Chloe side of her quickly supplied what the blob probably was and she fled, the insectoids in close pursuit.

Ghoulwyrm scratched his myosquito behind an ear and said, "I think I'll call you Sucker and this looks like the start of a beautiful relationship."

…

Megan was just about to get on the lift up to the warehouse that CPS command was under when she heard Gary call out to her. Megan turned around and gave Gary an annoyed look. "I am really not in the mood right now," she said, making her eyes glow red for emphasis.

"Megan...I thought I would accompany you. I have never been here properly...and I can think of nobody that I would rather see the sights with me," Gary said.

"I'm sure you'd find someone else to give you a tour," said Megan.

"But I don't want anyone else," said Gary, "You'd be better than anyone else."

Megan sighed, her black mood stopping the compliment from getting through fully. "Fine," she said darkly.

"Great," said Gary, "So, what would you recommend we see first?"

"Central Park?" said Megan, not really listening

"As good a place as any," said Gary, "Let's go."

...

Summer had begun to turn into autumn, though it was little hard to tell. Asides from the occasional cold breeze and the leaves starting to turn color, one could barely tell it was late September. Of course, that makes it perfect walking weather for going around Central Park.

Gary and Megan, taking advantage of such weather, strolled through the park, Gary looking around. "I cannot believe how warm it is. I would have expected it to be already close to snowing," he said, absently.

"That was because in your time the ozone layer was completely intact and there wasn't a surplus of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere," said Megan. Gary gave her a curious look. "Ask Tutor Bot about it," said Megan.

Gary winced and said, "I'd rather not, it was hard enough to get him to let us have the day off."

…

Gary and Megan were backing up as Matt struggled with Tutor Bot. "You know...with normal teachers...you just need a forged sick note...not...an ion staff," he said, struggling with the bot.

"I am programmed to not accept absences without permission from a student's authority figure," said Tutor Bot 3.0 before smacking Matt.

"I'M THE CAPTAIN HERE...OBEY MEEE-AAAARGH!" yelled Matt, his anger turning into a scream as he was thrown over the heads of Megan and Gary into the corridor

Tutor Bot beeped before stating, "Matthew Lynch, captain's title: officially revoked. Authority status insufficient."

A plasma burst was the reply, blowing the tutor bot's head off. "BZZ...WRONG!" yelled Matt.

...

Megan sighed. "You would think that things learnt by now," she said solemnly.

"Yes, it may have been created to teach, but I don't think it's very wise," said Gary, "Out of curiosity, what was it like back at your old school?"

Megan sighed, "It...wasn't nice. The other kids didn't like to go near the 'creepy girl'."

"You must have had some friends," said Gary.

"No, the school I went to didn't care much for 'people out of order'," said Megan, "Kids were just a bunch of walking uniforms to be droned at. I hardly think anyone noticed me being gone there."

Gary sighed. "Sounds awful. At least now you are with friends," he said.

"That might not last long, what with Matt getting arrested and the ship being confiscated," said Megan.

Gary smiled. "Chip and Draco once told me how he was locked up before. He has done much good and that will speak in his favor," he said, confidently.

Megan gave him an 'are you kidding' look and said, "Gary, I need some stability in my life and being around Matt might not help now. I just...want a steady home and family." She then turned and started walking off.

"Megan, wait!" called Gary, but there was a brief flash of blackness before Megan disappeared.

Gary sighed. "My cherie...I hope you don't run into trouble," he muttered before going bug-eyed as his brain pointed out the fact that he had been following Megan and as a result, he hadn't got a clue where he was. "Uh oh," he said weakly.

However, there had been someone else watching the interaction of the two young teens. A pair of red eyes among the tree branches blinked before disappearing with a faint buzz of wings.

…

Omnirus was busy finishing her bandages. The myosquito bites had changed to nasty boils...itchy ones and as a result, she was so bandaged up that she could pass for a clone of Ghoulwyrm. "I hate you so much," she growled.

Ghoulwyrm smirked as he petted a myosquito, "You should see how some humans react. They'd tear their flesh just to get rid of the irritation."

"Just make sure they learn that friendly fire is bad," said Omnirus darkly.

"If you can manage not insulting them, we shouldn't have a problem," said Ghoulwyrm.

Just then, Sucker flew and said, "Master, master, I have most interesting news."

Omnirus said sarcastically, "The NSC have deployed fly paper?"

"No, I spotted the halfling witch and the weregoyle in the park," said Sucker, "The witch looked pretty sad. She said she wanted a steady home and family before leaving."

Omnirus didn't seem impressed, "So she needs therapy...boo hoo. That doesn't help us."

Ghoulwyrm frowned and said, "That girl has been a pain in my tail on more than one occasion. This could be an opportunity to get rid of that brat once and for all. But I need more information."

Sucker said eagerly, "I can deal with her. I can drain her drier then jerky." only to be swatted into a wall by Omnirus.

"There, that's what Matt's squad will do to you half a second after you attack," she said in a matter-of-fact voice

"I'm not just going to strike her down when she's alone right now," said Ghoulwyrm, "This situation needs thorough thinking out if it's to be effective. And I'll have to gather more information to know what to do."

"She'll spot you a mile away, Ghoulwyrm...and as for bug boy, over there..." said Omnirus

Ghoulwyrm gave the squished myosquito a disgusted look before saying, "I'll have to mix up that henchman potion again. But there are other ways of gathering information that don't involve physical presence."

"Like what?" said Omnirus

"As the youth today are so wont to say: none of your business," said Ghoulwyrm as he floated off, "And clean up that mess. Myosquitos emit a powerful homing pheromone when they die and they tend to attack anyone who's close to it, particularly if they smell its blood on them."

Omnirus glared as the sound of buzzing got closer. "I swear if you weren't already dea-..."

...

In a quieter area of downtown, Megan had stopped at a bus stop. She could see a little up the street that a kid was playing with his dog while his mom and dad watched. Megan sighed and pulled out an old photo of her and her parents at her last birthday party with them. "I wonder what you are doing now?" she said to herself, before folding the photo back up carefully and putting it back.

She paused when she felt like someone was standing right behind her. She turned around but no one was there. "This day's just getting to me," she muttered, not noticing a slight distortion in the air.

...

Ghoulwyrm was studying Megan through a large crystal ball. "How quaint," he said, "The little witch pines for her mommy and daddy. Almost makes me want to cry. Or gag more likely."

The new minion, peering over Ghoulwyrm's shoulder said, "We eat da lady?"

"Not yet," said Ghoulwyrm, "I think I know how to use this to our advantage, but I'll need a bit more direct information. That's where you come in."

"Why me go dere?" said the minion, one of its eyes slowly spinning.

"I just need some of her blood, that'll allow me to extract the memories of her parents," said Ghoulwyrm.

"You say we no eat though," said the myosquito.

"It's not eating, it's...tasting," said Ghoulwyrm, "We need to make sure she's ready to eat."

The myosquito nodded before his wandering eye did a full 60 and he said, "Why we look at dat?"

Ghoulwyrm groaned and muttered to himself, "Be patient, many potioneers have to go through rejects before they perfect their formulas."

...

Half an hour later, Megan was heading back to the park, some part of her remembering that Gary had no clue how to get back.

Just then, she heard a whining sound and spotted a small mosquito flying around her. Megan glared at it and said, "Stupid bug," before waving it off.

She didn't see it very closely or else she'd have notice it was a different kind of stupid bug. "There girl, now me get," said the myosquito before sniffing and drifting towards an ice cream truck. "Mmm...sugar."

Ghoulwyrm, who was watching from a rooftop, facepalmed as his 'foolproof' minion homed in on the sugary treats. "I coulda used reptiles but nooooo...I had to go for the scare factor," he muttered

Since the myosquito has most likely forgotten all about his job and will mostly get swatted in a minute, Ghoulwyrm became invisible and floated down towards Megan. "If you want a job done right..." he muttered, heading across the road. Unfortunately, undead rarely pay attention to road safety, meaning poor Ghoulwyrm didn't see the bus coming.

A little while later, Ghoulwyrm was proving it was possible to float with a limp. "Note to self: when turning invisible, turn intangible too," he muttered to himself.

Ghoulwyrm peered out, waiting for Megan. "Stupid buses...stupid bugs...stupid fates," he muttered. As he floated closer to Megan, he thought, 'Ok, I have to make this look like a minor incident, something that could easily be blamed on something else and ignored." He noticed Megan walking close to a tree and thought, 'Perfect.' He aimed a talon carefully, muttering "Ready...aiiiiim...fire." before sending a bolt of magic at a branch over Megan's head

Megan heard something and looked up just in time for the branch to fall and hit her. "Ow!" yelled Megan as the branch left several scratches on her exposed skin.

Ghoulwyrm air punched silently going 'Yes'. Megan put her hand on her forehead to see the blood. She went off grumbling, stopping as a bus went by, making a 'clunk' as it seemed to hit something. Ghoulwyrm kept his teeth gritted together to keep him from yelling from the pain of having the bus run over his tail. He carefully headed over and picked up the branch. "At least something good came out of this." he said to himself

...

After wandering about for about half an hour, Gary finally spotted Megan. "Megan, I've been looking everywhere," said Gary before noticing the scratches, "You're hurt."

"A tree branch hit me, no big deal," said Megan, "It'll heal up in no time at all."

Gary however was still concerned. "We should get you back and have one of the doctors look at it anyway..." he said before saying a little shyly "...as soon as I work out which direction to go in."

"It's nothing, Gary, look," said Megan as her scratches quickly healed up leaving no mark, "I have NegaMorph's powers, remember?"

"That is good...now...where are we?" said Gary, gulping as a howl from a homeless dog was heard.

Megan sighed and said, "We definitely need to take you around New York more often."

...

Ghoulwyrm spent quite a bit of time working with Megan's blood. Blood memory was a trickier part of blood magic, but Ghoulwyrm was soon getting all the memories he needed. The new myosquito had returned, human-sized now and covered in vanilla ice cream. "Soon, Sucker, I'll have that little brat within my clutches. Then I'll have the pleasure of-" Ghoulwyrm took another look at the myosquito and asked, "How did you get so big?"

"Suuuuugar…" said Sucker 2...his lazy eye spinning as he spoke.

Ghoulwyrm, who had been unable to stop staring at it, shook his head to snap out of it. "Sugar did that?" he said, confused.

"Tasty sweet sugar," said Sucker 2.

Ghoulwyrm just said, "Wow...and people say sugar's bad for you..." before the proverbial lightbulb came on in his head. "Sucker, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"Why they call ant farm a farm when there no tractor?" said Sucker 2.

Ghoulwyrm rolled his eye and said, "No, Sucker, I shall be able to strike Megan even more directly by disguising a pair of myosquitos as her parents."

"Oooooh...what is disguise?" said Sucker.

"Obviously, not something you'll be wearing," said Ghoulwyrm, "I'll have to implant another pair of myosquitos with Megan's parent's personalities."

"Dat is good...what I do?" asked Sucker.

"Go...buzz around the Statue of Liberty or something," said Ghoulwyrm. Sucker shrugged before getting a dazed expression as his brain ran out of thoughts for the moment.

Ghoulwyrm sighed and said, "I have got to work on improving that henchman potion." Despite everything, Ghoulwyrm tried a quick mind reader spell to see what was going on, poking and hearing what sounded like the speaking clock. "I should have known," he said darkly.

"Sucker, why don't you go tell Omnirus she's a pretty lady? It'll be a nice thing," said Ghoulwyrm. Sucker nodded and headed off in Omnirus's direction. Ghoulwyrm rubbed his talons together and conjured some paper and a pen. "Now...for the bait," he said, evilly.

...

The next day, a rather pale-looking mailman made his way to the CPS HQ. "Ok, just stop here, drop off the letter, then I'm gone," he said to himself. The mailman looked around before spotting a warehouse with a surprisingly sturdy-looking fence around it, marked as 'CPS Logistics'. "Really? That's the best they could come up with?" said the mailman darkly before walking towards the street entrance.

...

Matt had ended up with the night shift, making sure nobody actually tried to hire 'CPS Logistics'. "Ugh...I need coffee, strong, black, richly-caffeinated," groaned Matt.

There was a knock as a mailman came in. "Got a letter here for-EEEEK!" he said, screaming as he spotted Matt.

"We get mail again? I thought we had to collect it since the last attempt to send us a bill," Matt said with a yawn, adding darkly "Do you have a bill?"

"Er, no, just a letter," said the mailman nervously.

"Do I know you? I feel like we've met." said Matt, suspiciously.

"Uh, no, just one of those dozens of faceless mailmen who work for near-minimum wages," said the mailman a bit too quickly.

Matt nodded before spotting the brown envelope. "You said no bill," he said darkly, pulling out a shotgun. "As is agreed...you have 3 seconds," he said, pumping the shotgun.

The mailman quickly turned on his heel and ran out.

Mat sighed before looking at the address. "Poor Megan. I told her, the IRS always find you...even in another universe," he said, walking to the lift down to the HQ.

Megan had also apparently just gotten up, given that she was still in her nightshirt and the state of her bedhead. Matt wandered up, holding the letter. "IRS found you." he said, tossing the letter to her.

"IRS?" asked Megan, "I'm only fourteen, why should I be paying taxes?"

"Don't ask me, it looks like a bill to me," said Matt, before staggering off back to his post.

Chloe was headed back to her room with some coffee when she saw Megan standing in the corridor, staring distantly at the letter in her hand. "Hey kid, whatcha reading?" asked Chloe.

"It's...it's...it's..." said Megan in a distant voice. Chloe stared for a minute before lightly slapping the side of Megan's head to jolt her brain out of the loop. "It's a letter from my parents," said Megan weakly.

"Your parents? As in the smegheads who threw you out?" said Chloe.

"Yes and it says they want me back," said Megan.

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "I dunno...you get plenty of wierdo's. You sure this is genuine?" she said.

"It definitely looks like it came from them," said Megan.

"Let me see that," said Chloe reaching for the letter.

Megan yanked the letter back and said, "No, it's mine!"

"Ok, it's private. I can respect that. My brother guards the safe in his quarters religiously...so what makes you think it's from them?" Chloe said with a sigh.

"Just...some references. Some very personal and private references," said Megan.

"Ok...what does it say? You meeting them somewhere?" said Chloe before adding, "I'm coming along. We've met our share of shapeshifters, including a few I met as Silvia so I'm coming along...just in case."

"Fine, but don't tell anyone else yet," said Megan, "I...don't want Mom and Dad to be scared off."

"My lips are sealed...and if these are fakes trying to set you up to lose money...well...dragons need protein," said Chloe.

"Please stop talking like that," said Megan, "I don't know if dragons are really cannibalistic or not."

Chloe rolled her eyes for a moment. "Wait for me up top." she said, heading for her room.

...

A few minutes, later, both Megan and Chloe were walking out of the HQ. "Where are we supposed to meet them?" asked Chloe.

"Grand Central Station, 10:00," said Megan.

"Ok," said Chloe, checking her ion staff, "I'll be having a few choice words with them as well. They can't just dump you then come back suddenly."

While the two girls were walking away, a myosquito was watching, Ghoulwyrm's newest Sucker. He had a communicator with which he could talk to Ghoulwyrm with. He finally, with a buzzing sigh, spoke into his communicator. "Boss...they're here...I think...I dunno."

"Are they heading for the train station?" demanded Ghoulwyrm.

"I guess, it's kinda hard to see them from here," said Sucker 3.

"Then move so you can see them," snapped Ghoulwyrm.

"Whhhyyyyyyy?" moaned the myosquito in a bored voice.

"Because if you don't, I'll feed you to a giant bat. NOW MOVE IT!" roared Ghoulwyrm.

"Geez, man. Calm down," said the myosquito, buzzing upwards after the duo.

…

A short bus ride later, Megan and Chloe arrived at Grand Central Station. "You know this place is going to be packed," said Chloe, "How are we supposed to find them."

"I'll be able to spot them," said Megan.

Chloe nodded, stepping off the bus and looking at the crowd. Megan stepped off behind her, rolling her eyes at Chloe's behavior.

Megan looked around, trying to pick out any trace of her parents. Eventually, she spotted something at the ticket booth. There was a man and a woman, both with red hair, but not quite as vibrant and fiery as Megan's. They were both conservatively dressed and they appeared to be looking around for someone.

Chloe seemed to have spotted something else, heading across the hall as Megan walked slowly towards the couple. "Mu-Mum? Dad?" she asked cautiously.

However, that person Chloe was looking at just turned away, so Chloe put out of her mind. But just then, something started shaking the ground. Chloe looked to see cracks in the floor, as if something was tunneling under it. And it seemed to be heading towards Megan. At the same time, Chloe's wrist comp began beeping and its AI said, "Warning...incoming class 12 lifeform."

Megan was still trying to get the couples attention when the floor behind her exploded upwards and a light purple dragoness with mismatched limbs smashed her way upwards, causing the people in the hall to panic instantly. "Gotcha now," said Omnirus before extending her Diamondblast arm into a fiery spike and prepared to spear Megan through.

At the last second, the red haired man pushed Megan to the side, Omnirus's shot missing and blowing a ticket booth to bits. "Hey! No messing with the shots!" yelled Omnirus. Chloe had covertly taken her blaster out and shot a blast at Omnirus's leg. Omnirus span in the air from the hit before managing to right herself.

"Grr...stupid mercenary," she muttered before looking evilly to Megan and causing a wall of crystal to hem her and the couple in. "Don't go anywhere." she said evilly before swooping at Chloe.

However, by that point, Chloe had her ion blade back and as Omnirus tried to run her through, she chopped of the Diamondblast arm at the elbow. Omnirus shrieked in apparent pain before suddenly knocking Chloe flying with an evil grin and "Psyche." The crystalline arm regrew to its proper length, only the end was hollow and handless. "My turn to blast," said Omnirus before sending a flamethrower attack at Chloe.

Chloe managed to dive to the side just in time, the flame blast incinerating the newsstand she'd been knocked into. Omnirus took better aim before she noticed several stings, looking to the side to see two NYPD officers firing at her.

"This is getting too public," growled Omnirus, "I guess I'll have to deal with you later." With that, she dived back into the hole she came from and quickly bored out of sight.

Chloe ran back to the hole and fired a few shots down before seeing the cops and reaching for a holo-ID...a piece of tech that the NSC had started sharing, allowing mercs to have any ID they needed...in this case, a FBI identity card.

"FBI, Division 5," said Chloe, "Everything's under control gentlemen, this is government business." The cops looked at each other as Chloe continued, "Some idiot with a costume and too much time. All under control." The cops shrugged before heading off to try and re-assure the crowd. Chloe put away her holo-ID and muttered, "I can't believe that worked so well."

Megan however was hugging the man who'd tackled her down. Chloe headed over, saying, "Ok. You ok, Megan?"

"I'm fine," said Megan, "Thanks to my dad."

Chloe turned an icy look on the man. "You're Mr. Roph?" she said, darkly.

"Yes, though I'm not exactly proud of it," said Mr. Roph remorsefully.

"We let our fear get between us and our only daughter," said Mrs. Roph, holding Megan tightly, "We've been living in regret ever since."

Chloe began to say "That's the biggest load of-" only for Megan to immediately hug her father tightly.

"Chloe, these are my parents," said Megan, "I know they did something wrong, but don't they at least deserve a chance to make up for it?"

"Ok..." said Chloe suspiciously.

Megan hugged her mom and said, "I missed you guys so much."

Mom said in a careful voice, "And I love you too."

With all that had happened, no one was looking up towards the ceiling, where a myosquito was watching from the rafters. Sucker activated his communicator and said, "Hey boss, the trap thing worked, big whoop."

"Great...now get back here," said Ghoulwyrm over the line.

"Aw, but it's such a long fly," whined Sucker, "Can't I take a train?"

"GET BACK HERE!" yelled Ghoulwyrm.

"Ugh, fine," groaned Sucker before flying out a window.

...

Chloe looked at McNeil's officer "So you opened fire in the middle of Central Station," he said in a bored tone.

"Yeah, pretty sure you'd do the same if you were there," said Chloe.

"Yes I would...2 years in Disperse Inc. It wasn't your fault, but I recommend you and your team stay in quarters. If people like this 'Omnirus' are in the area, you're an inviting target...and that won't look good before the enquiry," said the officer.

"And what's to keep Omnirus and her friends from knocking on the front door?" retorted Chloe.

"Have they ever tried before?" said the officer.

"No, not that I can think of," admitted Chloe.

"Exactly. Just keep your head down. Just between us, McNeil seems to have it in for you," said the officer before walking out.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, "Gee, ya don't say."

Matt walked in past the leaving officer. "Well? I hear you had some fun," he said.

"Oh, just took a look around Grand Central Station, reunite Megan with her long-lost parents, got jumped by Omnirus," said Chloe.

"Omnirus? That gender bent nutcase is in town? Great...you know who she likes to hang out with," said Matt darkly.

"Well, Ghoulwyrm, Mecha Red, and Soundwave were running that banshee scam a few days ago. Not too surprising their little crime circus is all here," said Chloe.

"Great, that is all we need: nutcases aplenty," muttered Matt.

"And the chances of Omnirus just happening to find me and Megan as we were finding her parents?" said Chloe.

"Astronomical. One of Ghoulwyrm's goons must have followed you," said Matt.

"Yeah, maybe that guard has a point. I don't think Ghoulwyrm's trying to be covert anymore if has Omnirus spouting through the floor of a train station," said Chloe.

"Yes...and I'm sure Megan's parents would LOVE to be shot at," said Matt sarcastically.

"What's that about Megan's parents?" asked Gary as he and NegaMorph walked over.

"Her parents turned up and were nearly shish kebab'ed by Omnirus," commented Matt before Chloe could stop him.

"What? But the chances of-" started NegaMorph.

"Omnirus just happening to find them are astronomical, yeah, we just covered that," said Matt.

"I was actually going to say 'Megan's parents wanting her back, let alone finding her'," said NegaMorph, "Also astronomical."

"So what? These guys are imposters? Megan doesn't have any money as she's still paying back the money for the damages last month when her chem lab exploded," said Matt.

"I don't think they want her money, I think they want her," said Gary, "Or rather, Ghoulwyrm wants her."

"Wait...how do her parents fit in?" said Matt

"How did Megan's parents find her in the first place?" asked Gary.

"They couldn't, period...ever since we shot the last post-I mean we stopped receiving post, it's impossible for a letter to find us," said Matt.

"Yeah, what kind of suicidal serviceman would want to deliver a letter here?" said NegaMorph.

"Yeah...no way they could find her," said Matt.

Gary grabbed Chloe and demanded, "Where is Megan right now?"

"She...went...out," gasped Chloe.

"Don't tell me you let her go alone with her parents!" growled Gary.

"She...wouldn't...take no...for an answer...now...let go of me...or you'll...regret it…" rasped Chloe.

"Alright, kid, ease up on Chloe," said NegaMorph before pulling on Gary's arm, but barely moving it, "Huh, he's stronger than he looks."

Chloe's eyes narrowed before Gary's skeleton was outlined with a buzzing noise.

NegaMorph, seeing Chloe's reaction coming, had let and let Gary get the full blast. "Ow..." said Gary in a weak voice.

"Next time, you'll be ash in a bucket...comprende?" said Chloe darkly.

"Bottle your aggression for later," said NegaMorph, "We gotta save Megan."

Chloe said, "...and if they ARE her parents, Megan will kill us slow."

"When was the last time we've accused someone of being something bad and not be proven right?" said Matt.

Chloe said, "There's a first time for everything. Let's go...and try and be subtle."

"You sure we should be taking Matt then?" asked NegaMorph.

...

Megan couldn't help but smile as she followed her parents down the street. "So...how is home? It was so long ago that you k-...that I left," she said

"Oh, we moved," said her mother.

"Too many bad memories in that place," said her father.

"Really? You loved that old house," said Megan, shocked

"It just wasn't the same without you," said Mrs. Roph, "But we've got a better home now."

"Oh? Where are you living now?" asked Megan.

"We're heading there right now," said Mr. Roph, "You'll be in for a big surprise when you see it."

Chloe, Gary and Matt walked round a corner at that. "Megan...wondering where you were. So these...people are your parents?" said Matt.

The Rophs nodded. "I...do not believe we've met. I assume you have been the ones looking out for our daughter," said Mrs. Roph.

"Of course we've had," said Chloe, her tone sounding a bit strained too, "We've made sure she's properly fed, gets plenty of rest, and we've had her in homeschool for the last few months."

"That's...good...though now we've found her, we would like her to come home with us," said Mr. Roph. Matt began to say "Wait...didn't you already meet-GYAAAH!" yelling as Chloe 'slipped' and kicked him.

"Er, perhaps we could visit," said Gary.

Mrs. Roph looked at Gary and asked, "Who is this?"

"This is my boyfriend, Gary," said Megan.

"Ah, nice to meet you, Larry," said Mr. Roph, shaking Gary's hand.

"Why'd you kick me? I only said it was weird that-ARRRGH!" said Matt, screaming again as Chloe again kicked him 'accidentally'.

Then Mrs. Roph looked at NegaMorph, who was ducking down in his trenchcoat and fedora. "And who is this again?" she asked.

"Oh, just Megan's caretaker," said NegaMorph, "Good ol' Uncle NegaMorph, that's me."

"Obviously he's from your side of the family," said Mr. Roph to his wife.

"Actually he's a mut-AAAARGH!" Began Matt, only to be electrocuted mysteriously as Chloe put her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, we need to be going," said Mrs. Roph, "We have dinner waiting."

"Perhaps we could come," said Gary.

"Sorry, Jerry, but we've only have room for three. Maybe another time," said Mr. Roph.

The gang watched the Rophs go. Chloe glared as they left, "Ok...they're hiding something. I met them personally when Omnirus ambushed them."

"I agree," said Gary, "When Mr. Roph was shaking my hand, it didn't feel right. Like it was a stuffed glove or something."

"That's no surprise," said NegaMorph, "They obviously aren't human."

"You sure?" asked Chloe.

"Of course, couldn't you smell the difference?" asked NegaMorph.

"Now you mention it...they smelled like they'd been rolling in...sugar," said Chloe.

Matt groaned from the floor, "I think you cooked me."

"Is that so?" asked NegaMorph before his tail reached out and nipped Matt's shin.

"Arrrgh...GRRRR!" yelped Matt before growling, grabbing NegaMorph's tail and tying a knot in it.

"But some burn salve and let's move," said Chloe, "For all we know, those two are taking her to a demonic cult for a sacrifice or something."

…

Meanwhile, Megan followed her parents through the street, heading for the warehouse district. "You live around here?" she said confused.

"Oh, it's a very special home," said Mrs. Roph.

"None other like it," said Mr. Roph.

"I dunno..." said Megan, worried as she spotted several shadowy figures dart away.

"But Megan, don't you want to be with your family?" asked Mrs. Roph.

"It's only a little further," said Mr. Roph, "You'll be surprised at how cozy it is."

Megan looked around before nodding carefully. "Ooookay...but maybe I should call the others...let them know where I am."

"You can tell them later," said Mrs. Roph, "You can use our phone if you prefer." Megan gulped a little at that before following them. She had a horrible feeling that something was wrong.

"Ah, here we are," said Mr. Roph before stopping at a nice little house that stood out like a sore thumb among all the warehouses. Megan just stared, the little house quite literally out of place between the two warehouses it neighbored, the warehouses towering over it.

"Why would anyone build a house here?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not sure," said Mr. Roph, "But you would not believe how cheap it was."

Megan walked up to the door and poked the wood. "Maybe its cursed?" she said, absently.

"Cursed? Don't be silly," said Mrs. Roph, "There's no such thing as curses."

"You'd be surprised," muttered Megan.

Mr. Roph unlocked the door and opened it. "After you," he said.

Megan looked confused before walking inside to see a cavernous warehouse interior. She immediately felt the after-tingle of passing through an illusion spell before spinning to see her 'parents' closing the door. "Ok, what the heck is going on here?" demanded Megan.

"Why, it's your homecoming," said a creepily familiar voice, "And you'll have such a blast, you won't ever be leaving."

Megan span around, trying to find the voice...the voice she knew far too well. "What's going on?" she began before an anesthetic spell hit her in the back, causing her to go numb all over.

"Ah, perfectly executed," said Ghoulwyrm has he became visible, "And Omnirus said this plan had no chance of working. But here you are, alone and completely defenseless."

Omnirus, perched on a rafter above with the 'backup plan' stunner cannon, said, "DON'T say that...every time you get confident it all goes south."

Megan managed to turn her head over her shoulder and said, "Mom, Dad, how could you do this?" Ghoulwyrm laughed loudly and said, "How cute, she still thinks she's with mumzy and dadzy."

Megan stared in horror as two insectoid...monsters tore their way out of the skin-suits that had resembled her parents, one of them hissing "We get sugar now?"

"As much as you can eat," said Ghoulwyrm, pointing towards two large sacks of sugar.

Ghoulwyrm looked disgusted as the myosquitoes dived into their reward before walking towards Megan. "I suppose you're wondering why I went to all this trouble. Given you can't ask now, I suppose I should tell you," he said, "I'm sure you remember the myosquitos from before. Well, I've been working on improving them, making them true army-building material. Of course, I need to test how effective they are. But then one of my sources mentioned how you were so homesick so I decided to kill two birds with one stone."

Megan managed to growl in her throat as Ghoulwyrm continued "Who knows? Maybe I'll teleport what's left of you into Lynch's quarters? I hear he's in the sort of trouble that sudden bodies make worse." Ghoulwyrm chuckled.

"I wouldn't taunt her too much," said Omnirus, "Giving her physiology, working up her temper probably makes that spell wear off faster."

"That's why I added my own personal touch to the spell," said Ghoulwyrm, cockily. Megan's growling got a little louder as she focused on trying to change form. Ghoulwyrm sighed. "Fine...shoot her," he commented, nodding to Omnirus's stun cannon. Omnirus gave a nasty smirk before sending a stun blast at Megan.

...

As much as Ghoulwyrm would like to 86 Megan, he wasn't the kind to waste a possible resource. Fortunately, there was a potion he had discovered useful for boiling the essence out of someone for storage and eventual application in alchemy. Which is why Megan was tied and hanging upside down over a boiling cauldron of said potion.

Omnirus said dully, "This looks ridiculous. You realize that, right?"

"Her dignity's suffering more," said Ghoulwyrm with a shrug.

"I dunno...we could just, oooh...maybe just SHOOT HER?" said Omnirus.

"And waste all that power?" said Ghoulwyrm, "If we could apply that to the myosquito army, they'd be truly unstoppable."

"And what if that potion doesn't work?" pointed out Omnirus.

"Then we have Lady NegaMorph soup," said Ghoulwyrm.

Omnirus stared at Ghoulwyrm before rolling her eyes. "I'll stick to takeout, thanks," she said gloomily.

"Suit yourself," said Ghoulwyrm before dipping a claw into the cauldron and bringing it to his mouth. "Mmm...I think it's ready for the main ingredient," said Ghoulwyrm, "Start lowering her in."

Sucker, slumped over the release wench, said, "Aw...why have I gotta do this?"

"Do it or no soup for you," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Ugh," groaned Sucker before he started cranking the wench down.

An echoing clanking was heard as someone knocked at the disguised warehouses's service door. Ghoulwyrm looked towards the door and asked, "Who could that be?"

"Warehouse inspector," called a voice from the door.

"Omnirus, go kill that guy," said Ghoulwyrm, looking back to the cauldron to prepare the potions spell

Omnirus walked over to the door, her stun cannon in her lower arms while her upper arms were preparing a big burst of fire and lightning. "Erm...who's there?" she called out, taking aim at the door.

"Warehouse inspector, gotta make sure there's no illegal goods in there," said the voice.

"Yeah right." muttered Omnirus, readying to blast the door and as such, not seeing her shadow starting to move by itself

"You better open this door before things go kaboom," said the voice on the other side of the door.

"Huh, that's a good one," muttered Omnirus before NegaMorph grabbed her from behind

"What's this? A Tregonian stun cannon?" said NegaMorph, "I bet you don't have a permit for that." He then turned the cannon around in Omnirus' hands before pulling the trigger.

NegaMorph let go of Omnirus as she slumped down before he opened the door to Matt. "NegaMorph, fancy meeting you here," Matt joked.

"Well, it's hardly the best housewarming I've ever seen," said NegaMorph, "Especially when you see what skull-face is cooking for dinner."

Matt came in, followed by Chloe and Gary, who had heard that part. "Cooking? Wait...he's cooking Megan?" Gary said horrified.

"Actually, I think he said something about wanting to extract her essence, but I think eating her's Plan B," said NegaMorph as he extended a blaster from his right arm, "What's say we spoil his dinner plans?"

Gary pushed Matt and Chloe aside, running forward while yelling "Don't worry. I'm coming!"

The three of them did a collective facepalm. "Nice kid, sensitive boyfriend, a bit too overprotective," said Chloe.

"Not to mention he has less patience and caution than Matt," added NegaMorph.

The group ran forward towards where Ghoulwyrm was. However, when they had gotten within 18 feet of him, they suddenly found their feet stuck to the floor. "Matt, how nice of you to stop by," said Ghoulwyrm dryly, not even turning away from his work.

"Oh, come on..." moaned Matt, looking down at the mass of grey goop gluing him to the floor.

"You like it?" asked Ghoulwyrm, "It's an old spell I knew. Never thought I'd have the chance to try it out."

Chloe grimaced as she lifted a few inches up before it snapped back down to the sticky floor. "It feels like I'm in Morph's room," she said.

"No, it's not that bad, it doesn't smell of cheese," said Matt.

"I would toss you into the soup too, but I don't think mixing essences would be pretty," said Ghoulwyrm, "Besides, my troops will want appetizers." Just then, the air was filled with the sound of wings buzzing as at least four dozen myosquitos flew up from behind crates.

"Bugs, I almost hate them as much as undead," groaned Matt before managing to send a plasma blast at some of them.

However, that show of aggression caused the anklet to give Matt a harsh nip. Matt gave a yelp of pain which caused Ghoulwyrm to turn. "What are you yelping about? Don't tell me you can't stand the touch of my trap," said Ghoulwyrm.

"It's not that, it's...GAH!" yelped Matt.

Common sense told Ghoulwyrm to leave Matt stuck in the trap, but his curiosity was aroused. He reached several bandage tendrils over and plucked Matt out of the grey goo before pulling him closer. As soon as Matt was close enough, Ghoulwyrm spotted the bronze anklet on him. "What the netherhell is th-" he began before the anklet leapt off and sunk its bronze teeth into Ghoulwyrm's snout, simultaneously getting him to let go AND clamping his mouth shut.

Seeing how the anklet was currently focusing on Ghoulwyrm at the moment, that left Matt a small window of opportunity to do some plasma blasting without impunity. His choices were A: blast the rope that was binding Megan, B: blast as many myosquitos as he could, or C: blast the floor trap and free the others.

"Ooooh...decisions, decisions," muttered Matt before Chloe yelled "MATT...SO HELP ME...!"

"Chloe it is," said Matt quickly, firing a blast of flame at the goo holding his sister.

As soon as the goo was vaporized around Chloe's feet, she quickly switched to dragon mode and took off. "Hey, what about us?" called Gary.

"Sorry, that stuff's like rubber, electricity doesn't work on it," said Chloe.

Ghoulwyrm finally managed to pull the anklet off his face. "HOW DARE YOU-grk!" He began before the anklet leapt at him again, this time at his neck.

While Matt and Chloe started attacking the myosquitos, Gary and NegaMorph continued to try to free themselves. "Blitznak, this is stuff is like tar," said NegaMorph before extending a blaster from his hand-mouth, "Kid, I suggest you cover your nose."

Gary went bug eyed. "No wait, this stuff looks flamm-" he began before the blaster hit the tar...and made it explode, launching the two in opposite directions, happily free of the tar...though this was a small comfort. "Ow..." groaned Gary as he got back up.

"Ok, note to self: never use molecular rounds on cursed goo again," said NegaMorph.

The anklet flew past NegaMorph's ear to embed in the wall, struggling to get free again. Ghoulwyrm glared at the two, mouthing something at them, soundless due to the damage the anklet had done.

"I wonder what he's saying," said Gary.

"My best guess: you don't wanna know," said NegaMorph. Ghoulwyrm glared and began generating a spell, aiming it at Gary. "Kid, I think you better move," said NegaMorph. Gary started running away from Ghoulwyrm, though his legs ached from the trap's restraint and the shock of the explosion. The spell narrowly missed, causing the supporting girder to melt like ice on a barbeque. A few seconds later, the whole warehouse began to groan.

Megan frantically made efforts to make herself heard through her gag, particularly since she was getting closer to the boiling potion. Fortunately for her, Gary noticed her plight and rushed forward towards her. Several of Ghoulwyrm's myosquitoes noticed his charge and changed their attack target to go after him...only to be sent flying as Gary sent them flying. Megan was having to bend upwards to keep out of the potion at this point. Then Gary ran over and delivered a powerful smack with his tail to the cauldron. The cauldron tilted and quickly started to fall over.

Sucker, asleep in the far corner opened his compound eyes to see a small tidal wave of red hot potion baring down on him. "Uuuurgh, I shoulda stayed asleep," he managed before being hit by the wave, followed by being squashed by the cauldron.

After that, Gary jumped up and slashed the rope holding Megan. Megan tumbled out of the snare and into Gary's arms. In any other situation, this would have been the point where the rescued damsel kisses her rescuer and saying something like 'My Hero'...however this was Megan so she struggled, pulled off the gag and yelled "I'M GONNA KILL THAT DRACOLICH!"

"As much as I support that sentiment, I think we have other worries," said Gary as Matt was thrown into a support pillar, which caused the whole warehouse to buckle.

Ghoulwyrm stalked towards Matt, one of the 'Roph' myosquitoes holding Chloe by the throat and said "This must be my lucky day." before a ceiling panel landed on the Roph minions, crushing them.

"Pity, I think Megan would have preferred to squash those imposters herself," said Chloe.

Ghoulwyrm, who had refused to turn at the crash noise, gulped as Megan said "He'll do just fine." before several shadow tendrils grabbed the luckless dracolich and carried him over to hang upside-down in front of the furious Megan. "Trying to boil me in magical broth, I could put under the typical villain plans. But using the false lure of my parents as bait, you made it really personal," growled Megan.

Ghoulwyrm gulped and, if he had still been alive, he would have been sweating rivers by now. "Now then...let's not do something you'll regret," he said nervously.

"Trust me, you'll be the only one feeling regret, if you'll be able to feel anything at all," hissed Megan as she shifted to alien form.

"Ooooh, why didn't I listen to Omnirus and Red?" moaned Ghoulwyrm before Megan got...started.

Matt, Gary and Chloe winced as Megan vented. "We should make her an official merc. She has the attitude and violent responses down to a T," said Matt, a little weakly before he and Chloe side-stepped from each other to allow Ghoulwyrm's head passage between them.

"Hey, call her off," moaned Ghoulwyrm's head, "She's already done enough damage to take days to recover from."

"Only days?" said NegaMorph, "Megan, kick it into high gear."

Ghoulwyrm groaned as one of his fingers sailed past. "Oh, come on, I'd just got that hand fixed. At least spare the tesla-implants, they cost alot...what did I say that?" he groaned as Matt grinned evilly and called out "Hey Megan, leave the tech for salvage."

Just then, one of Ghoulwyrm's organs flew over and hit a nearby wall. Gary grimaced and asked, "What is that?"

"Actually...I'm not too sure," said Ghoulwyrm.

Matt wandered over and gently kicked it...before being tossed across the room as said organ exploded. "Oooh...it's my old flame-sac, wondering where it went," said Ghoulwyrm, the sight of seeing Matt deposited across the warehouse making up for the upcoming 3 weeks as a head...before a creaking got everyone's attention, the old warehouse finally giving up.

"Megan, if you've had enough venting, I think it's time to leave," said NegaMorph.

Megan glared and growled. "I know when I've had-" she began before a girder landed in front of her, nearly skewering her. "...AND THAT'S ABOUT ENOUGH!" she shrieked.

The gang quickly ran out of the warehouse as the ceiling was about to cave in. Meanwhile, Omnirus was slowly getting up from being stunned. "Oh...what happened?" she muttered.

She turned her head to see Ghoulwyrm's disembodied head an inch from her nose. "Pick me up and let's go...NOW!" he yelled.

...

Safely outside, Matt, Chloe, Megan, Gary, and NegaMorph watched the warehouse collapse. "Well, there's another of Ghoulwyrm's plans down the drain," said Chloe.

"Best of all, my parole anklet's gone, such a shame," he said, apparently sounding sad before starting to laugh like a psychotic. Just then, he heard a hissing sound and Matt turned to see a glint of bronze in the shadows. "Oh no," said Matt before the bronze snake that was the Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort leapt out and onto his face.

Gary, Chloe, and Megan all stepped back a bit as Matt fell to the floor with a scream. "Pretty nippy for some jewelry," said Chloe in a weak voice, slapping away Matt's hand as he tried weakly to grab her wrist.

Megan was holding the remnants of the skins the imposters were using. "I can't believe how easily I was fooled," she said before igniting the skins.

Chloe put her arm around Megan's shoulder. "It's ok, kid. You got a family anyway...an uncle..." she said, nodding to NegaMorph "...an aunt," she said, pointing to herself before Matt screamed again "...a goofy cousin," she added.

"Yeah, anyone too blinded by their own idea of perfection to see you're a good daughter don't deserve to have you," said NegaMorph.

Matt probably would have added something, but sadly as the anklet was clearly upset, all he said...well, screamed was "IT'S TRYING TO GET UP MY NOSE!"

"It's like Lilo says," said Gary, "Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or...or..."

"Forgotten?" suggested NegaMorph.

"That's it," said Gary.

Chloe nodded before Matt started making a weird gurgling noise. "Erm...do we call tech support for that?" she said, worried.

* * *

Another chapter done. And a very good example of how nasty Ghoulwyrm can be. Of course, this ends up being his undoing (as usual), so he won't be showing up for a while. But still, there's other things stirring. However, that'll have to wait until next week. Until then, please review.


	5. Chapter 5

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 5**

Even with the relocation to the CPS base, things still got dull for the gang pretty fast. But at least it was a safe dull with less chance of Morph wondering off and inadvertently blowing something up. But at least they allowed some visitors.

Jake looked at the control consoles crowding the CPS bases main room, the site reminding him of a Bond supervillain's base, even down to the world map screen showing where their teams were operating. "So...what kinda things can this do?" he asked, looking at one of the readouts.

"Oh, quite a bit," said Chloe, "Global satellite surveillance, hack into virtually any computer connected to the internet..." Jake curiously pushed one button on the console which immediately caused a readout to flash 'Please do not push this button again.' "...And access to the plasma satellites the NSC installed 3 months ago," finished Chloe, pulling Jake's hand away

"Ok..." said Jake, "You think this thing could make a couple of concert tickets?"

"Jake, this is the most sophisticated computer on this side of the United States. It was designed to help maintain order across the entire planet," said Chloe.

"So, you're saying that it could do it in a heartbeat?" asked Jake.

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "Are you asking me to let you use the most advanced super-computer in this universe to make bootleg concert tickets?" she said in a threatening tone that Jake missed completely

"Nah, I'm ok with using just this," said Jake, indicating the computer. Chloe growled before rolling her eyes and pressing a few buttons.

Just then, Fu Dog walked in holding a lava lamp. "I didn't know you guys were 70's types," said Fu Dog, "I know Lao Shi is, but I thought you were more modern."

Matt glanced at the lamp and said, "We aren't, that's Morph's new prison." Fu dog turned to look at the lava lamp in time for Morph to stare at him, causing him to jump "It's a lot more compact then what we've been using before, it keeps Morph just as secure, and it glows in the dark," said Matt.

Morph tapped against the glass and cried, "Let me outta here!"

Matt peered at Morph. "You gonna stop juggling live hand grenades just cause NegaMorph said you can't?" he said.

"You're not the boss of me," snapped Morph.

"Wrong answer," said Matt, "Keep trying to find the right one." With that, Matt tossed Morph's prison onto the desk and started walking out, muttering about Neilson.

"Does Matt seem to be in a bad mood right now?" asked Megan.

"Yeah, but Morph didn't actually blow him up," said Gary.

"Hey Matt, what's eating ya?" asked NegaMorph.

"Neilson signed me up for a sweep of the sewers," said Matt darkly.

NegaMorph looked disgusted, "You're joking."

"Do I LOOK like I'm joking?" said Matt, angrily.

"I remember what Paris' sewers smelled like, but this city is much larger," said Gary.

"It's not that bad if you know how to stay dry," said Megan, causing the others to give her an odd look. "What?" she asked.

Matt turned to look. "You've been in the sewers?" he asked, confused

"Well, when I was living on the streets, I couldn't always find a dry place above ground when it was raining," said Megan, "But still, it's a labyrinth down there and you shouldn't go alone."

"I was told they couldn't spare anyone. Leyton was more clear; I'm not ALLOWED any backup," said Matt.

"They expect you to clean the sewers by yourself," said Jake.

"Even I wouldn't want to do that," said Morph, "You're gonna stink so much."

Matt twitched a bit and said, "Well, I suppose I could find a buddy or two..." as he picked up Morph's prison.

Morph shook his head. "Not a chance..." he began in a shocking show of self-preservation before Matt picked up the lava lamp prison.

"Think of this as parole...otherwise I extend your sentence indefinitely," Matt said.

Morph pouted and muttered, "No fair."

"Life isn't fair," said Matt, picking up the lava lamp.

"Well, good luck to you," said Megan as she started to walk off.

"Not so fast," said Matt, "You said I needed a guide so I don't get lost."

Megan double-taked at that "Now wait a second..." she began before a faint glow surrounded her as Matt used plasma control to pick her up. "Hey! This goes against child labor laws!" shouted Megan.

"Consider this your way of paying off all those expensive potion ingredients you got last week," said Matt. Megan yelled various ancient curses as Matt caused her to float after him

"That's Matt," said Chloe, "If he has to suffer, he wants to make sure he doesn't suffer alone."

Just then, a nervous-looking worker walked up and said, "Uh, someone here to see Mr. Long."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "So? What's with the nervousness?" she asked.

The trooper said worried "It's...a client...yeah, you could call him that..."

Jake shrugged and said, "Sure, I can see him."

Chloe rolled her eyes before going pale as a figure in a long black hooded robe came into view. "Oh no..." she sighed.

"Uh, who's this guy?" asked NegaMorph.

"Oh, that's just Marty, the Grim Reaper," said Fu Dog.

The name had noticeable effect. Gary immediately dived behind a desk and NegaMorph pulled out a big gun and yelled, "You're not taking me without a fight!" Almost all the other mercenaries in the room also turned and either pulled weapons or ran for it

"Relax, I'm not here on business," said Marty, "Well, usual business anyways. So you can lower the blaster, Matt."

Chloe and the others finally noticed that Matt had sneaked up with an energy blaster, now looking innocent. "What blaster?" he said innocently, tossing it aside where it went off.

...

Leyton was sitting half asleep at his office overlooking the main control room when a neglected sense turned on and he moved himself to the right in his sleep just as an energy blast blew through the wall. "Lynch," he muttered before snoring again.

...

"So, uh, what brings the Personification of Death here?" asked Matt, keeping one hand on his blaster just in case.

"Well, I got a little business with Jake," said Marty.

Chloe glared. "Now hold on, you think you can walk in here and take a kid just like that?" she said coldly.

Marty rolled his eye sockets and said, "For crying out loud, I'm not doing any reaping here. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Wait...you got fired or something?" said Matt, confused.

"Well, no, not quite," said Marty, "But something just as bad could happen. You see, I kinda...lost my symbol of office."

"Symbol of...oh, you mean the giant, smeg off scythe," said Matt cheerfully.

"Shh...keep it down," hissed Marty, "You know how much trouble I can get in if too many people hear about this?"

"Then you shouldn't have come in here-OW!" said Matt cheerfully before yelping as the anklet bit him.

"How hard could it be to misplace a scythe?" asked Jake.

"Well, it wasn't misplaced so much as...taken," said Marty.

"Ooh, was it by a dumb boy with a big nose and a mean girl with no nose?" piped Morph.

Marty gave him an odd look and said, "No."

"Then I got nothing," said Morph.

Matt glared and threw Morph out and down one of the disposal chutes. "Ok, now insanity is briefly gone, what happened? How does death, the ultimate destination, personified, get ripped off?" he said.

"Well, it started off as a typical day for me," started Marty.

...

Marty exited a house, scratching another name off his checklist. "Geeze, you'd think people would learn to stop smoking already," said Marty, "Don't they listen to health warnings anymore?"

He was looking to see who was next before he heard a kid's voice say, "Excuse me, mister, do you know what time it is?" Marty looked down to see a buck-toothed boy looking up at him.

"Beat it, kid, I'm busy," said Marty.

"I just need to know the time," said the boy.

"Trust me, kid, you don't want me telling you the time," said Marty, "And I'm not someone you wanna annoy."

"But mister..." said the boy.

"I said go away!" snapped Marty before someone else said 'Yoink' and his scythe was snatched from his hand.

...

The group just stared before Matt burst out laughing. "It was...that easy? Oh, it's too much," he laughed, falling over.

"It was a long day, I was tired, and it turned out the first kid had tied my ankles together when I wasn't looking," said Marty. All this did was start Matt laughing again. Marty glared at Matt and said, "You know, I could schedule you to have an unforeseen encounter with the front of a bus."

"I know that's a bluff," said Matt before saying "...right?"

Just then, a large section of ceiling panel fell down not one inch away from Matt, followed by a very large safe. Matt looked up through the hole in the ceiling to see a pair of movers. "Sorry, man," said one, "I think you might need to have your floors reinforced."

Matt turned to look at Marty before saying, "I gotta go scout some sewers." before running out the door

Jake turned to Marty and said, "So, I guess it's my responsibility as the American Dragon to help get your scythe back. So, who are the chumps who snatched it?"

"Not quite sure, but here's what they look like," said Marty, holding out a hand which projected a glowing yellow nimbus which revealed two young boys.

Jake looked at them before saying "I think I know them...can you put some masks on them?"

"Sure," said Marty before domino masks appeared on the kids.

"No, cover their upper head," said Jake. The masks on the boys spread around their head. "Aha, I thought so, it's those failout Huntsboys 88 and 89."

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Huntclan's toast, between the last week before the skulls when the NSC started after them and the skull, how did those guys slip out?" she said

"They quit at the last minute," said Jake, "But then they've been trying to prove they're the baddest guys around. But they're usually too chicken to handle anything big."

"I think they've decided to up their game. Those death scythes have blades that make ion blades look like butter knives," said Chloe.

"Not to mention there tends to be complications when I don't have the scythe in my possession," said Marty.

"Like...people can't die?" asked Gary.

"Technically, yeah," said Marty.

Chloe sighed and called out "Sergeant...get the flamethrowers ready. We might have zombies later."

"Not that way," said Marty, "Sure, you can take a fatal blow and still live, but it'll be incredibly painful and once I get my scythe back, you'll drop dead."

NegaMorph, who had been aiming a fireaxe at Gary's back put down the axe and muttered, "Rats."

"Ok...so what can these two goomba's do with your scythe? I presume there is alot that only you can do," Chloe said, absently tazering NegaMorph.

"Well, it is a powerful artifact in its own right," said Marty, "Not only can it cut through just about anything, but it can open up portals to almost anywhere. But I usually only stick to Earth. I don't know much of what else is in the universe."

"Like say...opening a portal to wherever their mates went?" said NegaMorph casually.

"Could be, but after this amount of time, I doubt they'd look pretty anymore," said Marty.

"Ok...so how do we find these two?" said Chloe, calmly.

"I was hoping you'd tell me," said Marty, "Since no souls are in mortal danger now, I can't track anyone. That's why I had to ask around to find you guys here."

"Great, idiots with a super-scythe, just what we need," said NegaMorph.

"I think I can whip up a locating spell," said Fu, "But it'd be easier if I had something that belonged to those guys."

Jake thought before saying, "Hey, Fu, remember that time I literally scared them out of their pants?" "You kept your enemies' trousers?" asked Gary in disbelief.

"Well, it seemed like a trophy at the time and they couldn't just be left on the street," said Jake.

"Ok...it'll work at least...but I'd stick to less creepy trophies from now on," said Chloe.

...

Meanwhile, Matt was having a decidedly less-than-fun time down in the sewers, which smelled even worse than he imagined. "Urgh...I hate my job." he muttered, wearing the gas mask as he walked along the walkway next to the sewers more...liquid contents...and calling it liquid was being generous.

"I swear, I'm gonna get back at Neilson if it's the last thing I-" started Matt when suddenly, the walkway he was on cracked beneath, causing him to lose his balance and tumble down into the...grime.

"Does this mean I can have his lunch?" asked Morph.

Megan shook her head. "Erm...ask him," she said before Matt came out of the grime, literally disintegrating the stains.

"Ok...we're going to check one more tunnel then we're going back...any objections?" he said icily.

"Uh, not really," said Megan, "Ugh, this place smells worse than the last time I've been down here. What are these people flushing?"

"Baby alligators?" suggested Morph.

Matt looked around before spotting two eyes staring from a tunnel. As he watched the eyes went wide in fear and shot back. "Over there," he said urgently.

Megan rolled her eyes and said, "I've been down here before. There are no albino alligators in the sewers. Trolls, maybe, but not gators."

"It had lizard eyes, this way," called Matt clambering into the tunnel.

Megan sighed and muttered, "I think some of that slime leaked into his ears."

"They have not, my hearing's as sharp as ever," snapped Matt. Matt finally got out the other side of the tunnel, spotting a child sized shadow shooting round a corner...complete with a tail. "HEY!" he called.

There was a hissing sound followed by a splash. Matt raced towards the bend in the tunnel and went around the corner to see a more liquid-filled sewer, with ripples on the surface showing something had recent dived in.

Matt looked at the pool before getting an idea from an old adventure and picking up a rock. "Ok...come outta there before a grenade goes in," he called.

Megan and Morph came around a corner at that. "Matt, I don't think it can hear you underwater," said Megan, "Let alone know what a grenade is."

Matt put a finger to his lips before saying "OK...I WARNED YOU...FIRE IN THE HOLE!" he yelled, tossing the rock into the water.

As the rock splashed in, something green and quick splashed out, jumped onto Matt's head, jumped over Megan and Morph, and ran down another tunnel. Matt ended up getting thrown into the water by the creature's strength. Megan and Morph span to follow the things passage, Megan managing to toss a tracking spell on the figure before they turned to see Matt slowly get up out of the water with a green look. "I...think I swallowed it," he moaned

"Ew, Kala won't want to kiss you for a week," said Morph.

Matt stared before throwing up. "Ok...do we...know where that...thing went?"

Megan's eyes glowed red as she concentrated before saying, "Whatever it is, it isn't magicproof. That tracer spell is showing strong."

"Which way..." said Matt darkly.

"That way," said Megan pointing.

Matt stomped by them, the two following. Morph said "I think Matt's annoyed."

...

In a long-abandoned subway station, a whole new kind of squatters have set up what might be called a 'town', though the term 'nest' springs more prominently to mind. The 'inhabitants' would be recognizable to any Nullspace inhabitant...Infected...alot of Infected. These ones however were different, less bestial in appearance. That and they were doing a strange version of farming. Mostly mushrooms. The group were surprised as one of their children ran in, screaming about 'monsters'.

One of the females stopped working and went over to the child. "What is it, little one?" she asked. "There are monsters in the tunnels!" cried the child.

"There's no monsters here, kid." said one of the male guards, holding a rusted MP5.

"It's true, I tell you...it was the pack traitor...the destroyer!" said the kid in terror.

The guard snorted and said, "The pack traitor? That's just an old myth. Even if that were true, what would it be doing here?"

Another guard said with a yawn, "We can't take chances. If some humans find us...come on. The sooner we check this out, the sooner we're back."

...

Even though the competence of the Huntsboys was often in question, everyone agreed it was too risky letting them run around with Marty's scythe. So then started looking in the shifty and unwholesome places such a duo would be likely to be. One such place was a comic book store just down the street from CPS control. "Ok, remember, act natural," said Chloe, walking in.

"Relax, I know how to act in a comic store," said Jake until Spud raced past him.

"No way!" said Spud as he picked up a comic book, "It's the new issue of 'Toxic Spawn'! I've never missed an edition!"

"Uh, not as well as Spud though," said Jake.

Chloe shook her head before walking in with Jake. "What makes you think these twits will be here?" she asked.

"Well, I doubt they'd be welcome in the Magical Bazaar anymore after they went on that rampage," said Jake, "And this seems like the most likely nonmagical place they'd show up."

"I hope you have better places to search," said Marty, "This place stinks of wasted lives and junk food."

Chloe walked up to the salesclerk. "Hey...you seen two kids come in here wearing ninja outfits and carrying a giant scythe?" she asked before sighing in embarrassment at what she'd said.

"Well, I saw two kids wearing ninja outfits and talking about a scythe," said the salesclerk.

"That's probably them, did they talk about what they'd do with the scythe?" asked Chloe.

"Uh, something about finding something big to show who's boss," said the salesclerk, "I don't know, they seemed nuts to me."

"Yes...erm...I'm from Belleview, they escaped recently and we need to catch them urgently," said Chloe.

"That figures," said the salesclerk, "They talk about going for ice cream while leave so I'd check around an ice cream shop." He noticed Marty browsing through his comics selection and said, "Hey mac, I don't care how good your costume is, don't smear fingerprints on the rare merchandise."

"Oh, that's fine, we weren't here," said Chloe, slipping on the mind wipe glove.

As the group walked out the shop, Spud said, "I can't wait to go back for the next issue."

"Well, if that guy don't lay off the pork rinds, I'll probably have to go back in about a month," said Marty.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Look, don't say that in public. People get nervous when someone tells them that they know for sure when they're gonna snuff it," she said.

"I guess that means you don't want to know your life expectancy then," said Marty.

Chloe turned to glare at Marty with solid yellow eyes. "What do you think?" she said.

"Oh sure, lightning eyes, that'll scare off Death," said Marty sarcastically.

"Guys, let's save the agitation for the actual bad guys," said Jake.

"If they could qualify as that," said Trixie.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah...let's do that. I have an urge to fry something," she said darkly.

"Ok, what ice cream place would they be heading to?" asked Jake.

"Not the Scoop, they're permanently banned from there," said Spud.

"And there are dozens of ice cream shops in this city, how are we supposed to narrow it down?" asked Trixie.

A sudden roar interrupted their thoughts. "How about the place the giant ice cream monster is coming from?" suggested Fu.

Chloe raised a hand. "I'm not going to turn around. If I can't see it, it's not going to drive my blood pressure up," before a blob of what would turn out to be rocky road hit her and propelled her into an alley with a splatty crash.

The group turned to see a huge blob made of different patches of ice cream and sugar cones for horns, spikes, and claws was crawling towards them. "Time to give this guy 30 different flavors of hurt," said Jake before going dragon.

The blob turned to look at the dragon heading for it before making a throwing motion and sending a trio of giant ice cream blobs at the dragon. Jake dodged two before using his fire breath to melt the third. "That all you got? This is gonna a piece of cake. Ice cream cake that is," said Jake.

It was at that point that the blob proved the age old saying 'pride before a fall by throwing another trio while Jake was taunting it. Jake didn't react quickly enough and got pinned to the wall by the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry chunks. "Neapolitan, classic," said Spud.

Meanwhile, Chloe was in her dragon mode, though still covered in ice cream. "Rocky road, why is it always rocky road?" she grumbled.

She stopped as she heard voices from the service door into the ice cream parlor.

Meanwhile, a certain duo were watching the ice cream monster attack the American Dragon. "Man, that ice cream monster is the bomb," said 88.

"Yeah, I wish we knew how we made the scythe make it," said 89.

88 shrugged. "Who cares? It's gonna take the American Dragon down and best of all, we get free ice cream...ow!" he said, yelping as a crack was heard as he tried to grab his soda. "Stupid static," muttered 88, "I didn't think soda bottle could collect static."

89 didn't respond, unless you count 'D-d-d-d-d-d-' as a response. 88 looked up to see the reason: a very angry-looking dragoness that was sparking with electricity and smelled strongly of chocolate.

"Now then...let me describe my day. I woke up...my brother got sent on sewer duty then YOU TWO HAPPENED! If you value your skins, you'll surrender," snarled the dragoness, her left eye twitching.

"D-d-d-do something," said 89.

"I'm tryin', I'm tryin'," said 88 as he waved the scythe at her.

The dragoness didn't look impressed. "Don't wave sharp objects around, you could poke somebody's eye out," she said. She was readying a tesla blast to knock the two out when the scythe glowed and sent out a purple blast, knocking the dragoness clean out the shop front, though her colorful language from outside indicated that she wasn't out yet.

"I think we should find another place out test this scythe out," said 88.

"Yeah, free ice cream isn't worth this," said 89 before they ran out the back door.

...

Chloe couldn't get back in as the blob was now advancing on her. The blob then proved that it truly wasn't an intelligent lifeform by roaring in her face. The people who did see the result were impressed...up till now, nobody had asked what happened when you mixed lightning and vanilla.

Of course, the surrounding area was now in desperate need of some cleanup, but the neighborhood kids were more than happy to help out. "You know, there's something about eating the insides of a giant ice cream monster that you've beaten that's really satisfying," said Spud as he took a lick from his cone.

"Satisfying? You didn't do anything," said Jake.

Chloe was standing with her eye twitching. "I'm going to kill them," she growled.

"Unfortunately, it looks like their life expectancy's much longer than that," said Marty, looking at a scroll.

"Can't you...arrange something?" asked Chloe.

"I'd get in trouble for picking favorites, or close enough to it," said Marty.

"Am I at least allow me to almost kill them?" asked Chloe in a pleading tone.

Marty looked at the scroll and said, "Well, it says they're scheduled to be scared nearly half-to-death today."

Chloe seemed to zone out for a second, Marty finally waving a hand in front of her snout before she yelled "GOOD ENOUGH!"

"Ok, we still need to find those guys again," said Fu, "The good news is that so far, all they've done with the scythe seem to be just accidents."

"Yeah, the scythe isn't easy to control for rookies," said Marty.

"It zapped me. I won't...disintegrate or something...right?" asked Chloe.

Marty looked at Chloe closely and said, "Nope, looks like it's just a minor plague."

"Minor plague?" said Chloe dully before her scales started itching like mad.

"Yep, looks like lice," said Marty, "Scale lice to be precise. Pretty nasty, but not as bad as Egypt's."

Chloe hissed, "I don't care if you're Death, I'm gonna make you suffer before this day ends. Least my brother's missing this."

...

Megan's tracer spell was still working, though the directions it gave was a bit baffling at times. "Ok, how are we supposed to straight?" asked Matt as he looked at a brick wall in front of him.

Megan looked at the pool of water nearby and said, "Uh, I think it actually means to go under."

"No...just...no," said Matt in a final tone. "I am NOT, not even if I'm threatened with Kryos and meatloaf, going in that soup."

"Ok, I think we can take a shortcut," said Morph before pulling out a large metal discus out of his mouth, "I think we're in close enough range for the this teleporter thing to work."

Matt spun on Morph at that. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT SOONER?!" he yelled.

"Well, we weren't close enough, and I didn't want to break this thing," said Morph, "Prototypes are expensive, aren't they?"

Matt stopped. "Has it been tested? Also...is that thing the reason Chip took over bay 3 on the Bladestorm?" he said in a more reasonable tone.

"I think it's related," said Morph, "They've only been using it for fruit, at least that's what they looked like that might have been when they reappeared."

Matt and Megan looked slowly at each other. "Are you sure this is safe...for non-morph lifeforms?" he asked carefully.

Morph shrugged and said, "I dunno, wanna find out?"

"No, not without..." began Matt only for Morph to cheerfully toss the activated teleporter at Matt and Megan, both of them vanishing with a flash.

"Well, that worked well," said Morph before pausing and asking, "Have they tested it for multiple passengers yet?" He shrugged and said, "Well, better catch up to them." Having significantly lesser qualms, Morph jumped into the pool.

...

A double flash appeared, Matt landing on top of Megan, followed by the teleporter disc clocking him over the head and knocking him out. Megan however was desperately checking all her limbs. "Ok, ok, don't freak out," she muttered desperately, "Limb count: check. Transformation: check. Powers: check. Looks: check. Gender: check." She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Ok, I guess I'm all in one piece and my DNA hasn't been mixed up with Matt's."

"Oooooow…" moaned Matt from ground level.

Megan rolled her eyes and prodded Matt before her hearing heard the a sound almost exactly like claws on pavestones. "Matt, I don't think the teleporting's affected us, but this is not a good time for a nap," whispered Megan.

"But I don't wanna go to college today," said Matt dizzily.

Megan shook Matt and hissed, "Matt, wake up properly or so help me..." She stopped when she heard a scraping sound, like a scale tail dragging along concrete.

"Matt...something's coming...wake up before..." she began before the sound of a gun being cocked was heard close by and the business end of a MP5 was put in her ear. Megan knew NegaMorph could easily regenerate from having his head blasted off. She had a feeling she could too, but she wasn't sure how much punishment her brain was capable of recovering from.

"Get up," said a gravelly voice. Megan slowly got to her feet. She tried to turn her head to get a better look at her assailants, but that caused the gun's barrel to press on her ear more. "I didn't think little Lisa was speaking the truth. Who are you and what are you doing with THAT?" said the voice, a scaly hand coming into view to point a talon at the now singing Matt.

"We were...just inspecting the sewers," said Megan, "I didn't want to be down there, but he'd get lost without me."

"I can smell you lying. I'll ask again. What are you doing with the pack traitor?" said the voice harshly. Suddenly for Megan, the final part to what this thing was clicked into place. "You...you're the Infected, aren't you?" asked Megan.

"I heard that's what humans call us," said the voice before making a hiss noise, three more Infected coming into view from side tunnels, wearing old SWAT armor and all holding guns.

"So...what do you call yourselves?" asked Megan.

"All you need to know is that we've caught you. Tie the pack traitor up...tightly. If the legends are true, we shouldn't take chances," said the Infected.

"Uh, you sure we can't work something out?" asked Megan.

Megan felt a sharp whack before falling forward as the Infected knocked her out. "No...take her too. She's an accomplice."

The infected quickly tied up Matt and Megan before carrying them off, not noticing a certain four-eyed alien watching from the water. "Aw...they didn't even say hello to me," said Morph, climbing out with a small alligator attached to his backside, "I didn't even show them my new pet."

...

The next time Matt woke up, it was by Megan again. Only this time, she was a lot less gentler with her approach. She was making sure Matt would wake up fully this time, mainly by kicking his shin until it was black and blue.

"What the...what are you...ARGH!" said Matt, yelling in shock as the only result he got from attempting to stand was to roll in his side, his hands and feet tied together.

"It's about time!" snapped Megan, "You couldn't wake up when you needed to. Nooo...you have to wait until after we've been captured by the lizardmen to really wake up."

"Lizardmen?" said Matt, dully.

"You know, those Infected," said Megan.

"They're dead though...did NegaMorph put you up to this?" said Matt, laughing at first before starting to get a shaking voice.

Just then, a lizardman, scrawnier than the ones Megan saw before, walked into the room with a tray of food, looking rather nervous. Matt took one look at the lizard and screamed, prompting the lizard to also scream, drop the food, and run out. "Nice battle cry," said Megan sarcastically, "Nothing terrifies so much as the scream of a little girl."

"Infected...INFECTED...AHAHAHAHA!" screamed Matt, laughing hysterically.

Megan rolled her eyes and said, "Ok, time for me to get out of these ropes." She tried to shift into her Lady NegaMorph form, only to not get very far into it before snapping back.

"Problem?" taunted Matt with a smirk.

Megan focused but couldn't even get her skin completely grey before reverting. "I can't transform," she said.

"Let me show you how a pro does it," said Matt.

Megan waited as Matt seemed to strain before she said sarcastically "Problem?"

"Just a little…technical difficulty…" said Matt as he tried to shift. However, when nothing happened, Matt said, "Smeg."

"Ok, how are those overgrown iguanas keeping us from transforming?" asked Megan, "Last I checked, they weren't capable of operating simple machinery."

"We'd have noticed an outbreak if one had occurred. The only one we encountered was on another universe," said Matt.

"Right, so how did they get here?" asked Megan.

"I don't think they're the origin-revealing type," said Matt, "And I don't think we want to stick around for dinner."

"Strange...they're not acting like normal Infected," said Megan thoughtfully.

"Really? I haven't had the chance to observe them," said Matt sarcastically.

Suddenly, a nearby air vent became unscrewed and opened up. Chip hopped out and said, "But I have. But I believe you both would prefer a quick rescue first."

"Chip...What are...never mind...get us out of here," Matt called.

"Of course," said Chip before changing his hand into a pair of scissors and getting to work, "Just hold still and I'll have you out faster before you can say- Ah, already done."

"Good...now, let me set a demolition charge and bury these scumbags under 300 tons of rock," said Matt harshly.

"Matt, they're an evolving culture," said Chip, "You can't just wipe them out. Besides, we don't have time. The cooks are on their way."

"Cooks?" said Matt, confused before the door opened and the same Infected from earlier was there...guns ready. "Not exactly," it hissed.

"Ah, well, anthropology isn't my strong suit. I can be allowed a few misinterpretations on occasion so..." Chip grabbed Matt and Megan and jumped back through the air vent.

A hail of gunfire followed. "Follow them. If they get word, we'll be slaughtered!" yelled the lead Infected.

"Ok, I know there's a cold air shaft somewhere nearby," muttered Chip, "I passed it on the way here."

"What are we gonna do about them? There are INFECTED under New York!" said Matt manically.

"I know, and not from this New York," said Chip, "I'll explain what's going on, but we need to lose them."

Matt looked behind him to see an Infected carefully scaling along the vent and he tried to fire a plasma orb at it. The plasma orb did manage to fire, but it was a lot smaller than Matt would have preferred. Still, it at least knocked the infected back a distance. It also had the bonus of making the Infected fall down the vent onto its fellows with a shriek. "Keep crawling, kiddies!" said Matt panicky.

"Ah, here's the cold air shaft," said Chip, pointing at a side passage. Matt pushed Chip into it before following. The change of temperature was already noticeable. It wasn't freezing, but it was definitely brisk. The Infected following though stopped at the start of the tunnel, as if in terror.

Megan gave a sigh of relief and said, "I think we're gonna lose them."

"That's good...so..." began Matt before the vent gave way and he fell into the chamber underneath.

Matt landed with a splash in the shallow pool of water beneath. He got up and muttered, "Great, more sewer water." He looked around to see he was in another part of the sewers, but something about this location was making his skin tingle.

Chip and Megan dropped down into the sewer, notably more gracefully than Matt. "Ah, we're right at the source of this," said Chip.

"What do you mean the source?" asked Megan.

"See for yourself," said Chip, walking towards one of the branching tunnels. "At first glance, just another sewer tunnel, right? Wrong. This is a lot more than that."

Matt looked closely at the tunnel. It seemed like just another stinky tunnel but then something caught his eye. On the edge of the tunnel, he could see a glowing line completely tracing it. The line mostly seemed blue, but there were colors that seemed to defy categorization in it. He poked at it and got a mild shock. "Is this what I think it is?" asked Matt.

"A gateway to another world," said Chip, "Another New York, actually. And I'm very confident that this one leads back to the world where Goliath and his clan live."

"Wait a minute," said Megan, "I remember this thing, but I always had trouble finding it."

"That's because it isn't always here," said Chip, "As you know, the reality barriers around New York City have always been a little thin, mainly because so much happens in this place. So it's not surprising that these natural bridges between those myriad cities appear every once in a while. And this is obviously where our scaly friends have come from."

Megan stared at the tunnel and said, "I remember using this thing too. Back when my parents kicked me out. Or maybe it was long before…"

Matt and Chip exchanged a glance before Matt said, "So, you have an explanation as to how those guys gotten a lot more…cognitive?"

"I do have a theory," said Chip, "These transdimensional tunnels aren't entirely safe to use, not for everyone. My guess is before the Infected got wiped out in Goliath's New York, a group of Infected got through this tunnel while it was close to closing, making it less unstable. As you know, every Infected used to be human before, and the reality radiation altered their DNA to push those human traits to the forefront. Of course, it wasn't quite as noticeable at first. Only the younger Infected were physically altered but there was a very important thing separating them from the older ones."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down," said Matt, "How do you know all this stuff anyways."

"Well, I had sewer duty yesterday," said Chip, "And it was not pleasant, even if I didn't have a nose. But then I found a couple of stone fragments that had an unusual energy reading on them. I thought that they looked like the stone skin of a gargoyle, but the gargoyles around here don't seem like the type to regular shed their skin. Which made me wonder if this came from the other New York. So I went down looking for clues and ended up stumbling across them."

"I take it they didn't give you a warm welcome either," said Matt.

"I didn't actually meet them until I popped in to save you guys," said Chip, "I've been studying them for a couple of hours, trying to see how much they have developed. Of course, I kept out of sight and they couldn't smell thanks to the sewer. And I've been hearing them talk about their 'folklore'."

"And when were you planning to tell us?" demanded Matt.

"As soon as I had a full understanding of them, which might have been a few more hours," said Chip.

"So how did they become so 'civilized'?" asked Megan.

"Well, their infection isn't caused, as some may think, by venom. Rather, it's through a collection of bacteria in their mouths, like a komodo dragon," said Chip, "The reality energy from the tunnel altered that bacteria, making it more like the new Infected DNA. And after a couple of 'inductions' and a couple of generations, the new breed of Infected outnumber the old. Apparently, the old breed were known to be brutish, overbearing, and very disagreeable."

"That sounds right," said Matt, "So what happened?"

"The new breed rose up against them," said Chip, "I'm pretty sure there's none of the old breed left here. But the new breed is significantly more evolved. Their muzzles have become much shorter and more capable of expressions, their cranium has increased by over 40%, allowing for higher mental capacities. And the sexual dimorphism is become more apparent…"

"Chip, you're forgetting these are predatory monsters who want to wipe out humanity," said Matt.

"Well, I think the main reason behind that is that they're becoming too crowded and need more territory," said Chip, "Not to mention they remember how hostile humans are."

"This still doesn't solve the problem of the fact that all it'll take is for one of them to sneeze in a pipe going to water treatment and it all starts again," said Matt.

"Well, I think this breed is a bit more reasonable," said Chip, "If we diplomatically told them that we are going to relocate them to someplace where they'll be more comfortable, I'm sure they will listen."

Megan said, "You're going to make Matt be diplomatic...MATT?"

"Are you kidding? Matt try and negotiate with the Infected?" asked Chip with a laugh, "He doesn't have the grace to ask an ogre to get off a road, we'll need someone a lot better."

However, Matt chose to drop Chip on a large pipe, making a loud metallic clang that echoed around the tunnel. Megan and Chip gave Matt annoyed looks. "What? Lizards don't have good hearing, right?" said Matt.

A faint voice said, "Over here," before Matt had to dance to avoid a hail of bullets.

Megan tried to shift, but still couldn't make any progress. "What is wrong with me?" she snapped.

"Oh, it's not you," said Chip, "This reality radiation hampers shapeshifting abilities. The Infected have been so affected by it that they give it off to whenever that tunnel's open."

"Why don't I just a plasma orb down it, collapse it?" called Matt.

"Oh sure, if you want both cities to explode and take out a couple other New Yorks," said Chip, "Or maybe they will implode. Either way, not a good idea."

"Fine, exploding is out, why not collapse the sewer tunnel on it?" yelled Matt as the fired bullet caused sparks to fly

"I'm not sure if you can, at least not without taking a building," said Chip, "But there may be a way to accelerate its closing phase. Megan, can you still control shadows?"

Megan tried to find the darkness swirl around her. "Yeah, I can," said Megan.

"Great, Matt, keep the lizardmen busy, will you?" said Chip.

"What? Me?" yelped Matt before one of the Infected, who had slipped closer dove over his cover and tackled him out of sight.

"You'll be fine," said Chip, "It won't take too long." He turned to Megan and said, "Now then, it would appear that photons are part of what keep these tunnels open, and since darkness is the absence of light or photon, it would simple for you to affect the photon rate in the tunnel by accelerating their flow and cause the tunnel to prematurely close."

Megan just stared blankly. "Erm...shadows make it collapse?" she tried.

Chip sighed and said, "Close enough. Just spin the shadows in a clockwise direction and it'll make the tunnel close. Megan began to concentrate before what looked like a black tornado appeared, spiraling into the glowing rift. "Excellent," said Chip, "At this rate, the tunnel will close in about four minutes and you'll be able to shapeshift."

A small cylinder bounced into view at that before it went off with a bright flash. "Ok, these guys are a bit more intelligent than I had figured," said Chip, "Megan, you ok?"

"I can't see anything!" cried Megan.

"It's only temporary," said Chip, "Your sight will be back soon, but can you still work the tunnel?"

Chip turned just in time to have his optic sprayed with a paint can. "We got them. They were messing with the origin gate," said one of the Infected.

"Hold it, I can't let you-" started Chip only to be swatted aside and land in the pool of water face down. "Bleh, ugh, some of it got in my mouth," he spat.

...

Meanwhile, Chloe had finally gotten over the lice, though she was still glaring thunderbolts at Marty...sometimes literally.

"Ok, those guys can't have gone far," said Jake, "We need to find them before they do something bad on purpose."

"Shouldn't be that hard," said Marty, "They've used my scythe and I can pick up its signal now."

"Good...now WHERE ARE THEY?" roared Chloe, finally losing patience.

Marty looked around before pointing and saying, "That way."

Chloe nodded. "Good, more alleyways," she muttered.

The group was halfway through the alley before a scruffy man with a knife jumped out from behind a dumpster. "Give me your-" he started before Chloe shifted her face and roared into his. The guy dropped his knife and ran screaming.

Marty sighed. "You're just adding to my work, you know," he said.

"Oh like anyone will believe him and he'll probably change for an honest line of work," snapped Chloe, "Are we getting your bloody scythe or not?"

"Ok...by the way, trust me, your brother's getting it worse," said Marty, taking a peek at a scroll.

...

Matt and Megan sighed, back in the cage. This time, there were two guards staring at them at all times. However, that wasn't the trouble.

"I warned you that the humans would find us," snarled one of the gen1 Infected.

"We had been careful," hissed a gen2 infected, "We tried to avoid the humans, but they still come."

"We could easily overwhelm them. The water here goes to the city above. One drop of our blood or saliva and they would all turn," said the gen1 angrily.

"And the rest of the world will try to destroy us," hissed the gen two, "Exposure means execution."

"If the pack traitor's people hadn't attacked, we would be the dominants. Bullets and plasma cannot stop us, missiles do not stop us, we are superior," said the gen1 angrily.

"We don't wish for war, we want to live," said the gen2, "If we try to attack them, there will be endless war."

"Not endless, they will die," said the gen one with glee.

The gen two gave a snarl of disgust and said, "The way you old ones act, Tarkin, it's no wonder the humans want to kill us."

"Well, we cannot let the pack traitor and the weird human go. They will inform the surface," said another gen2.

"What can we do with them then?" asked another gen2, "They won't be prisoners forever."

Tarkin hissed, "We should kill the pack traitor...remove him as a threat."

"Killing is always your ultimate choice, isn't it?" hissed the gen2.

"And what do you propose, making them one of us?" hissed the other gen2.

"No! The pack traitor has been one of us twice now and each time he has brought death and disaster upon us," said Tarkin angrily.

The gen2 growled and said, "Fine, if it's the only way. But you won't just slaughter him like a cornered dog. It should be a fair fight."

"He deserves death..." began Tarkin only to look around to see no support arriving. "Very well," he said reluctantly.

A few moments later, one of the gen2 guards opened the cell and walked in. "Good news for you, pack traitor, you have a chance to earn your freedom," he said.

"Really? Does it involve one quick bite?" said Matt sarcastically

The guard grimaced and said, "No, you wouldn't fit into the pack. All you have to do is win a fight against one of our warriors, no weapons."

Matt smirked. "Sure...I'm up for some roasting," he said before Megan made a cough that sounded like 'wormhole'. Matt nodded, trying to get a plasma orb into his hand, but only getting a few pitiful sparks

Megan sighed and said, "That wormhole radiation's still messing with our powers, remember? We can't shapeshift and apparently you require that for your plasma powers."

"I'm dead," whimpered Matt.

"Maybe not," said Megan, "You might some super strength that works. You think you could be able to handle an infected with just strength?"

Matt just whimpered to himself, slowly sitting into the fetal position.

"Ok, how about this: you keep big ugly distracted long enough for me to figure out a good escape route. Then I'll hit the lights and we both run like the dickens?" suggested Megan.

"They don't have lights and believe me when I say they can see in the dark," said Matt gloomily.

"Then maybe Chip will get us out again?" suggested Megan.

"Nobody gets that lucky twice," said Matt.

"Well, maybe he won't be that hard to fight," said Megan, "Maybe they're like crocs and gators: all their jaw strength goes into closing so they can't open them if you hold them shut."

"Yeah, and maybe he'll just knock my block off," said Matt annoyed.

"Well, we don't really have much choice in this, do we?" said Megan.

"Unfortunately not, stupid Fates, always giving me the wrong end of the stick," grumbled Matt.

Megan was about to argue when the guard returned. "It is time," he said.

"Time does fly when you're arguing," grumbled Matt as he was dragged out.

...

Matt was led to one of the old flood overflow basins, most of the infected crowded around the edge. "Wait...we're fighting in thAAARGH!" Matt began before his guard pushed him in. Matt landed with a splash, fortunately the water wasn't very deep. "Urgh, sewer water again," groaned Matt before looking up and seeing the gen1 Infected from before. "Uh, hello," said Matt.

The Infected simply bared his teeth and drew his claw across his throat in the classic 'you're dead meat' gesture. "Uh, don't I get a last request?" asked Matt.

The Infected roared and charged at those words, forcing Matt to roll to avoid being skewered. Matt frantically tried to recall all he knew about infected. Unfortunately, what mainly sprang to mind was how deadly they were, what weapons one should use against them, and how best to lose one in a chase. He settled for the classic approach which was to scream and run in the opposite direction.

However, as he tried to climb out of the basin, the Infected on the edge snarled and tried to slash him.

Matt yelled and surprised himself by dodging the slash, falling back as it shot past him and then kicking the Infected and carrying his momentum so he flew face first into the floor behind Matt.

"Ok, I'm a little quicker than I thought," said Matt to himself. He saw the Infected getting back up with a growl. "Ok, I hope I'm as strong as I think," said Matt before throwing a punch at the Infected.

The Infected was also throwing his own punch causing their fists to collide and for them to hop back, shaking them. "Ooh, I'm gonna feel that for the rest of the day," muttered Matt, "Ok, it appears I'm as strong as him. Maybe I can handle him."

The Infected turned and roared, his fangs and claws unsheathing. "Erm...then again," said Matt nervously, looking around for anything that he could use. Then he noticed a drainage grate nearby that was held close by rusty bars. "Better than nothing," said Matt before running over and trying to pull one loose. He managed to pull one loose just as the Infected lunged, the momentum causing him to spin and clock the infected across the jaw with his new bludgeon.

The infected hissed in pain before snarling, "Cheater..."

"Oh, sure, like it's unfair to use an improvised weapon against someone who has sharper teeth, nails, and a tail," said Matt.

One of the Infected, apparently one of the elders, called out, "He does not have our...assets. I will allow it...continue."

Tarkin growled and said, "Fine, use your stupid club, it won't save you anyways."

Matt backed up. "Come on then, bring it on," he said.

Tarkin snarled before running at Matt with a roar. Matt backed up before rolling at the last moment, causing Tarkin to hit the wall...literally.

Tarkin pulled himself off of the wall and growled at Matt. "Oh, your face got bent out of shape," said Matt, "Let me fix it for you."

With that, Matt whacked Tarkin twice with the bar before being grabbed by the wrist on the third swing and squeezed till he dropped the bar. "You may be stronger and faster than most of your kind, but you're just a scrawny ape," growled Tarkin.

"Maybe, but apes have one big advantage to lizards," said Matt through gritted teeth.

"And what could that be?" asked Tarkin.

"Bigger brains!" said Matt before punching Tarkin between the eyes.

Tarkin roared, rearing back while holding his nose before his feet were kicked out from under him Matt rolling away now his sweeping kick was finished.

"Alright, Matt, you've got him on the ropes," cheered Megan.

"Huh, this undersized dinosaur isn't so tough," said Matt, "I can go 10 rounds with him easy."

Chip said, "Who's winning?" flailing around before hearing a crunch and a groan.

Megan said weakly, "Matt was...till that Infected threw him into the wall. He really needs to concentrate sometimes."

Matt pulled himself off the wall and said in a dazed tone, "I let you have that shot."

Tarkin walked over to where some concrete had come loose and, with effort, lifted the section up, intent on squashing Matt with it. "I'll crush you like the bug you are," growled Tarkin.

"If I had a dollar for every time a villain said that..." muttered Matt before spotting the iron bar he had dropped earlier. Matt immediately lunged to grab it, narrowly avoiding being crushed before throwing it at Tarkin's legs, causing the large Infected to stumble. However, the gen1 infected was still carrying the chunk of concrete over his head, so when he stumbled over the bar, it caused him to drop the concrete which ended up landing on his head.

Matt winced as the Infected twitched a bit before going still. "Yeah...he's dead. This mean I win?" he asked.

A lot of growling was heard from the other Infected, particularly the remaining gen1. "I think so, but I think these guys are also sore losers," said Megan.

"I think now may be a good time for a smokescreen," said Chip before reaching into his storage compartment, "Now where is that emergency stash?"

"You had an escape plan this whole time?" said Megan angrily.

"I'm currently blind as a bat, I can't see where to throw it," said Chip, "Besides, if I threw during the match, Matt could easily have been fatally distracted."

"Just give it here," she said, reaching in, pulling a smoke grenade out and throwing it, the grenade landing in a surprised Infected's mouth and causing it to belch smoke everywhere

Quite soon, every Infected was coughing and stumbling about blindly. "Ok, I think it's time we exit stage right," said Chip.

Matt yelled from below, "IF YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT LEAVING ME!"

"Just climb out of the basin before the smoke clears," called Megan.

Matt yelled, "With what claws, smartass?"

"Oh, uh," said Megan before pulling off a few of Chip's arms. "Here use these," she called, tossing them to Matt.

"I better get them back!" called Chip.

Matt scrambled up desperately, pushing a flailing infected down into the basement when it put its hand on his shoulder to steady itself. "Let's find the wormhole and bloody well leg it," he said.

"That wormhole will close in about an hour," said Chip, "Since we don't have quite enough time to speed up the closing process, may I suggest we make a break for the surface as fast as possible?"

A burst of gunfire from an Infected who had pulled a gas mask on quickly decided the matter. "I need some air anyway," said Matt desperately.

Matt and Megan quickly ran down one of the tunnels and it sounded like the Infected weren't too far behind. "I think would have preferred helping Chloe find that stupid scythe," said Megan.

...

"I think I would have preferred helping Matt inspect the sewers," said NegaMorph after Chloe's group had just slayed a garbage can monster.

"I'm gonna tear those kids apart." growled Chloe, her eyes glowing red, not unlike when Draconus was near the surface with matt

"Chloe, maybe you should take a minute and calm down," said Jake, "These guys aren't worth that much effort."

"Not till I've taken that scythe and...and...yeah, I need to calm down," said Chloe, getting a hold of herself.

"I'm surprised they've been able to give us the slip so much," said Trixie, "Nomrally, those clowns are easy to catch."

"They must have been doing extra training or something," said Spud.

"They've got a scythe of ultimate power. It can probably do teleporting too," said Chloe.

Chloe double taked at that "But...but you're a...oh, this is too weird," she said.

"Ok, so if they've been shortcutting, I should sense when they've next- Oh, there they are," said Marty as the two Huntsboys popped back into existence not too far.

"I think we've finally ditched them," said 89.

A lightning bolt blew a basketball sized hole in the wall between them, causing them to briefly go catatonic in fear overload. "You guys are so toast," growled Chloe.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you warped us," said 88, "This time, we're going my way." With that, the two of them ran off.

Chloe sent another blast, the electricity arcing into a puddle ahead of the duo and forcing them to turn. "There...that road's a dead end cause of roadworks. Let's go kill them," she snarled.

Apparently, the Huntsboys didn't know that because they kept running until they reached the dead end. "Ah man, stupid construction workers," said 88.

Chloe skidded round the far end and yelled "THERE YOU ARE!" with manic glee.

89 pointed the scythe and said, "St-stay back!" Suddenly, there was the sound of a hissing roar from somewhere nearby.

"Dude, you are getting better with that thing," said 88.

"I don't think that was me," said 89.

A manhole was pushed open and to the Huntsboys' shock Matt and Megan, carrying Chip clambered out. "Why are you standing there? RUN AWAY!" he yelled.

88 said "What're you running-AAAAAH!" screaming the last part as a reptilian claw punched the replaced cover several feet straight up.

"What are those things?!" yelled Jake.

"What are they doing here?" yelled Chloe.

"There's a very interesting explanation behind that, but I think survival's more important here," said Chip.

An Infected, wearing a NYPD SWAT gasmask clambered out, holding a shotgun before randomly aiming at Chloe and firing a round off.

Chloe narrowly dodged the shot and said, "I've already had enough drama from those two stooges. These lizards are toast." She tried to throw a lightning bolt at them, but only got sparks.

"By the way, the reality radiation they give off cancels out most shapeshifting-related powers, including your lightning powers," said Chip.

Several more Infected, all holding firearms or with claws ready clambered out, causing Matt to snap, slapping 89 on the nose and snatching the scythe of him. "EAT DOOM ENERGY, EVIL THINGIES!" he screamed, aiming the scythe at them.

"Matt, wait, you don't know what that will do!" yelled Fu.

"WHO CARES?!" yelled Matt before firing a blast. However, instead of incinerating the Infected, it caused a ring of energy to appear above them which 'deepened' into some kind of portal which had a strong enough pull to start sucking them all in.

"Erm...my bad," said Matt with a nervous grin, hooking 88's collar with the scythe as he tried to sneak off "Where do you think YOU'RE going?" he said

Fortunately, the portal seemed to be 'fixed' on the Infected as it only sucked them in. Even the ones that haven't come out to the surface were being pulled in by its selective gravitational pull. After about a minute, the last Infected was sent through the portal which closed itself up with a thunderclap.

Chloe, holding 89's collar, said, "Ok...that was cool but where did you send them?"

Matt shrugged. "Don't know, don't care," he said.

"So...you didn't send them into oblivion?" asked Megan.

"Well, the only thing on my mind was that I wanted them far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far away," said Matt, "Or maybe that wasn't far enough?"

"So they could have ended up anywhere in the universe?" asked Jake.

"So long as nobody sees them again, I don't anyone's got a complaint," said Matt. Then Matt turned to the two Huntsboys and said, "Now for you two, I think that stealing and mishandling an artifact of great magical power is enough to earn you some jailtime, doesn't it?"

"And since they're the last members of the Huntsclan, they'll have to serve time for all of them," said Jake.

"And that should add up to, oh, about a 1000 years, give or take," said Chloe maliciously.

"What? We're...erm...minors?" said 88 desperately.

Chloe said with a smirk, "Under splitter law that triples the sentence...to teach hatchings to respect law."

"I told you we should have settled for taking that leprechaun's purse," said 89.

"Oh shut up," said 88.

Marty took the opportunity to reach over and grab his scythe. "Finally, I won't be letting this out of my sight anytime soon," he said, "Thanks for the help, guys."

"Anytime," said Jake, "That's what the Am-Drag is for."

"By the way, Marty," said Matt, "There's something I always wanted to do and this may be the only chance I'll get to do it and live."

Marty said "What th-OOF!" before Matt headbutted him and ran in the opposite direction, albeit unsteadily all the time laughing like a loon.

"Ow, that's never happened before," said Marty.

Megan sighed before grabbing 88 as he tried to get away. "Let's just go home," she said.

...

Chloe was asleep in the CPS command room when the door was...well, not slammed, more kicked off its runners as Matt stomped in. "That two-faced jumped up..." he was muttering.

"There had better be a good reason for you to wake me up," grumbled Chloe.

"McNeil's given those two numbskulls community service," said Matt angrily.

"What?! After all we went through to catch those hoodlums?!" snapped Chloe.

"In exchange for information. WARDEN hacked his comms, he got gear stockpile locations from old Huntsclan bases," said Matt, angrily.

Chloe swore and said, "All that anti-magical equipment in his possession? Not a good thing at all."

"Nope...not at all," said Matt gloomily. He sighed and said, "I need to take a shower."

Suddenly, there was a sound from the bathroom that sounded like the toilet was overflowing. A few seconds later, Morph wandered out of the bathroom, dripping wet and reeking to high heaven. "Why did you leave me behind in the sewer?" asked Morph.

"We were under attack by killer indestructible...mostly indestructible mutants," said Matt annoyed.

"Oh, are they all gone now?" asked Morph.

"Yep, sent them through a wormhole to places unknown," said Matt.

"Oh, that's a relief," said Morph.

Matt and Chloe coughed as Morph got nearer. "You...bath...no, not bath...decon-shower...NOW!" managed Chloe.

"Aw, but I already had a bath this week," said Morph.

"Tough...NOW!" said Matt, before making a gulping noise and running into a side room.

...

**Meanwhile, on a remote uninhabited planet in a distant galaxy that may or may not be part of this universe and may not necessarily even be the same time period...**

A rift appeared with a flash, depositing dozens of Infected in dazed heaps. "What...was that?" groaned one of them unsteadily.

"Where are we?" asked another. From the looks of it, they were in some lush jungle with large trees and vines hanging from just about every branch.

"Maybe the Amazon? I do not recognize the stars though," said a female Infected, looking up at the night sky. The stars where in a different formation than any of them had ever seen. But further proof that they had no idea where they were came seconds when the clouds uncovered the moon...and the smaller moon besides it.

"Ah, scale rot," muttered one of the Infected

"Now what do we do?" asked a younger Infected.

Just then, a creature resembled a wild boar with a few extra tusks and six legs ran out of the bushes, apparently upset by the intruders in its territory.

To unarmed Infected, it would have been trouble but unfortunately for the boar, the Infected had brought half of one NYPD's armory and the boar was hit by about 30 shells. "Well...least there is food." said another Infected.

"Well, we might as well get comfortable, we may be here a while," said another of the Infected.

* * *

And there's another chapter, one of the few non-Ghoulwyrm chapters in this story. I'm sure everyone recognizes Marty and the Huntsboys from the show. Also, we have the Infected, which have sprang up before in our storyline. But is this the last time we've seen the Infected? Maybe, but knowing the gang's luck, they'll probably run into them again at some point, but probably not for a long time, at least from their perspective. Anyhow, we'll be having more chapters in the next few days. Keep an eye out for them and please review.


	6. Chapter 6

**Voyager Saga**

**Trials and Retributions**

**Chapter 6**

It's a cruel fact that nothing is impervious to the passage of time, or at least most natural things. Artificial constructs of considerable engineering can endure for a long time, particularly if well-maintained. Alas, organic life does not stay so fresh, not even dragons.

One such dragon stood in front of a cracked mirror. It was not too long ago when Chang held a position of power in the Dragon Council, but then that hybrid mercenary and his little friends had exposed her...and the American Dragon foiling her plans. However her face showed the tests of time already, wrinkles on her human forms face.

"Cursed crow's feet," she snapped, "I would have thought I'd be the Dark Dragon's chief minister for a few decades before I got them."

Bananas B said from behind her, "Hey...least you're still spry for your age…" before Chang turned to glare at him and he said, "Erm...never mind."

"Dragons have vitality that lasts decades after humans," said Chang, "I'm still as fit as I've ever been. But things are starting to fade, the edge of my claws, the luster of my scales..."

"The blackness of your hair," muttered Bananas. Chang span back to the mirror and scrutinized her reflection in terror, spotting to her horror a few silver patches in her hair. "Relax, salt-and-pepper's very dignifying," said Bananas.

Chang spun around and snapped, "I shouldn't have this much gray hair this early! I'm starting to look like an old hag!"

Omnirus, who was passing said, "What's the old hag complaining abou-...ah crap." before a blast of flame knocked her through a wall.

"Hey, getting old's not that bad," said Bananas, "I mean, look at the big boss, he's been around for thousands of years and he's still kicking."

Chang said darkly, "He's a zombie."

A dazed Omnirus was getting back up and saying, "You're start to look like one your-" Before another fire blast knocked her out.

Bananas said quickly, "Hey, you're still as good as that Long kid."

Chang growled and said, "And he still has plenty of years..." She paused before smiling and saying, "Bananas, you have just given me a golden idea."

"I could use the bling, can I have it back?" asked Bananas.

"We can use the Avemetrus. The Avemetrus's power is the key. Its spell will be capable of giving me back my youth," said Chang evilly.

Bananas gulped and said, "Ya know an Avemetrus won't just help you because you asked, right?"

"We don't need its permission," said Chang with a cruel smile, "We don't even need all of it."

"Where are we gonna find one anyway?" said Omnirus, dizzily from her crater.

...

Matt sat in the passenger seat of the CPS Humvee as it drove towards the dockyards. "What's a Avemetrus anyway and why should we care? This sounds like Dragon Council business...not merc," he said.

"An Avemetrus is an ancient demon that is one of the oldest known races on Earth," said Fu Dog, "These guys have been feeding for millennia."

"What do they eat?" asked Chloe.

"Other beings' youth," replied Jake.

"Ah, that explains why McNeil wanted us to take the job. He's hoping we're lunch before the hearing with the council. They're apparently fascinated with what we found in that base," said Chloe, who was driving.

"That ain't the worst part," said Fu, "Legend has it these things breed only after one of them has been killed. And since Jake wasted one a few weeks back, well, you can do the math."

"How many of these blobs are we looking at?" said Matt, looking at a very grainy CCTV image that had been grabbed from the warehouse where the first one had died.

"Just one, fortunately Avemetrus are naturally selfish and only care about their race when one's been killed. But she'll be looking for food for her egg," said Fu.

"Great, so newborn AND pissed off. Fantastic...how do you kill them?" said Matt, annoyed, looking at the Humvee following them, its turret a prototype Null-energy blaster

"Well, I tricked the last one into feeding on itself," said Jake.

"Great...that'll be fun to pull off. Scepter squad, report," said Matt into his radio, calling the advance team only to get the hiss of a dead line.

"That's really not good, is it?" said Techo, calmly.

"I should probably mention that newborn Avemetri have a slightly different diet," said Fu, "You see, they're really impatient and they don't want until adulthood before they start feeding."

"They ate Scepter team?" said Techo, horrified before the convoy turned the corner to see Scepter team's own vehicles blocking the road, the doors either open or torn off.

"In a manner of speaking..." said Fu.

"Everyone out." called Matt, jumping out of the Humvee's side holding his blaster...and stepping on a CPS uniform apparently filled with goo. "Eeeewww..." groaned Matt as he lifted his foot with disgust, "What is this stuff?"

"The opposite of someone aging to dust?" suggested Chloe.

"Oh dear lord," said Matt, his face turning a little green. It was a whole new experience to hear a teammate...burst. A strange noise came from the disused supermarket ahead, the doors smashed open.

"Erm...anyone for the mall of doom? I can't believe I just said that," said Chris.

"Just how long will it take for an Avemetrus to reach full maturity?" asked Chloe.

"I'd say at best guess, 500 years," said Fu, "But no one's really sure."

The trooper on the new turret, a pilot from McNeil's division thereto use the turret said "Cool." before firing a sky blue blast from the turret through the open doors.

Judging by the angry roar inside, it didn't work. "Let me guess, these guys are virtually impervious," said Matt in an annoyed tone.

"Yup," said Fu in a calm voice before the roar came again, far louder this time.

"It's now really pissed off?" continued Matt.

"Most likely," said Fu.

Matt stared ahead for a few seconds before saying in a deadpan tone, "Bring it on."

As if the monster had heard, a tentacle shot out, grabbed Matt by the ankle and dragged him through the door. The tentacle glowed blue as Matt tried to wriggle out. "Urg...probably...not...a good sign," said Matt cringing. However, the glow stopped as whatever the tentacle belong to made a sound like it had just eaten something that didn't go down too well. Then the tentacle swung forward and flung Matt out. There was a 'bleah' noise as Matt went through a upper story window on the other side of the street, Matt's voice saying after a minute "I'm ok."

Then the tentacle lashed out again, this time getting the trooper on the turret. The trooper struggled against the blue glow, but could be seen getting smaller. "Oh no you don't, ugly," said Jake before turning to dragon form and scorching the tentacle with a burst of fire. The creature shrieked, tossing its meal aside with bone crunching force before taking a swipe at its meal's interrupter.

Techo ran over to the bundle of clothes and took a look inside. "Uh, good news is he's still alive," said Techo, "But the bad news..." He pulled a bawling babe out of the uniform.

"I am not changing any diapers," said Chris quickly.

"Chloe, press the red button first!" Techo yelled, trying to pull Fu back with Jakes help. Chloe shrugged, took aim and fired, the blast hitting the tentacle and vaporizing it. There was a shriek as the tentacle's former owner decided it had enough and retracted its other tentacles.

"Smeg, it's gone," said Chris, looking at the energy detector.

"Fu, you ok?" asked Jake.

"I feel great!" said Fu, "Years younger, wrinkles thinner, gut slimmer, I feel like a whole new me!"

Techo said annoyingly, "You look the same to me."

"Ah, what do you know?" muttered Fu.

"Well, least it's trapped. Control, this is Temporal Marine squad. Hostile located and contained. Scepter team is down," said Chloe into her radio as a door on the far side exploded and Matt staggered out.

"Where is that damn squid?" he said, annoyed.

"It ran off," said Chloe, "And it took his maturity with it." She pointed at the infantile trooper.

Matt looked at the troopers nametag. "He's the guy who 'read me my rights' when I took a trip to Kryos... I don't think he had that much maturity to start with," he commented.

"Fair point, but I won't be playing nanny to him," said Chloe.

"He shouldn't be that hard to change back," said Fu, "At least he isn't goo."

"Good point. Control, tell McNeil he needs to get a containment team here. This thing can turn people into jelly," said Matt. Just then Chloe paused and gave Matt an odd look. "What?" asked Matt.

She held her hand to the top of her head before moving it towards Matt's. Matt glared as he noticed the hand was now equal with her hand. "I think it got you," Chloe said carefully, taking a few steps back as Matt's eye began to twitch.

Fu gave Matt a long look before saying, "Looks like it, but I think he only got a little off the top. I'd say five years max."

Chloe grinned. "That's make me the older sibling...is it permanent?" she said, failing to conceal the hope in her question.

"Well, there is an antidote for those who have been age-leeched by hatchling Avimetri, but I think most of its going to Private Pooters over there," said Fu.

Matt turned to fix Fu with a glare to rival that of most monsters. "Make...more," he said in an ice cold tone.

"Hey, age-changing potions are delicate things. You don't want to end up as old as Gramps, do ya?"

Matt's eyes blazed red as he growled, "Potion."

"Alright, alright, geeze, I think I know why your sister wants you this way," muttered Fu before walking off.

"Wait...if that's the kid...where's the mum?" said Techo, voicing a thought that had been needling at the back of everyone's mind.

...

After birthing and 'raising' a hatchling, an Avemetrus would typically be feeling hungry for life energy. So what better bait than a near-immortal magical animal? This also included familiars...such as a monkey who had made one too many comments about his boss's grey hairs. "Erm...Chang? I'm sorry bout the silver lining joke...I DON'T WANNA BE BAIT!" he said, screaming the last part.

"You have nothing to worry about," said Chang, "You still have hundreds of years of youth in you and your personality will make it even more drawn to you."

"Erm...that mean I'll be ok?" said Bananas after a minute, before he heard Omnirus say "All lifeforce, no braincells."

Just then, a roar was heard in the not-too-far distance. "Ah, the quarry approaches," said Chang.

Bananas B settled for screaming and trying to break his bonds as the first tentacle came into view. "Keep wriggling, it likes it!" called Omnirus.

Mecha Red had also come along and was filming the event for his memory. "When should we act? Before or after its drained that pain dry?" he said.

"I'd prefer the biggest cut of tentacle as I can get," said Chang, "Besides, it'll get tired of him after about two minutes of being near him."

Mecha Red sighed. "He is still our only way to get resources for that moronic dracolich...so..." he said sounding disappointed before taking aim at the tentacles joint and firing a severing blast. There was a screech of pain as the tentacle was severed and hit the floor, where it continued to writhe for a few minutes. The creature itself could be heard retreating as Mecha Red and the others peered out. Bananas had a shellshocked look of terror, the blast having narrowly missed him.

Chang walked out from where she and the other two were hiding. "Excellent," she said as she headed over to the tentacle, "This will be more than enough to suck all the youthful spirit from that accursed American Dragon."

"As long as the original owner of your ingredient does not return for payment due," said Mecha Red darkly.

"It has more pressing issues, such as finding enough victims to regrow its tentacle," said Chang, "Besides, once I am back in my prime, I'll be more than able to fend off that ancient mollusk."

Omnirus, meanwhile, was prodding Bananas who was catatonic. "Erm...monkey boy's rigid, guys," she said, concerned.

"He'll be fine, the creature never even touched him," said Chang, "Now, I need to find a place where I can catch Jake Long off guard."

"The wise dragon brings the ape to his claws rather than waiting for it," said Mecha Red seemingly randomly.

Omnirus gave him an odd look. "Bananas is a monkey," she said.

"He meant that we should make Jake come to us instead of trying to find him," said Chang impatiently.

Red nodded. "Yes...this fool Jake, if I understand your reports of him correct is nauseatingly heroic. If he thinks someone is in danger he will come running like a foolish hatching," he said.

"Sounds like your typical teenage hero," said Omnirus, "Question is, how are we supposed to make it look convincing enough for the American Dragon to appear?"

Red smirked evilly, a Void cannon unfolding from his shoulder port. "I always thought that you cannot beat the real thing," he said darkly, even causing Chang to shiver a little.

...

Most people would do anything to be a few years younger. However, despite the larger reserves of youthful energy, there are some decided disadvantages to being young.

"I SAID GIVE ME MY KR'TA, YOU JUMPED UP LAPTOP!" yelled Matt at one of the HQ's drink dispensers.

"Individual underage, cannot comply with request," said the drink dispenser, "Continued threats will result in summoning of authority…"

The rest of the threat was never heard as Matt took the incentive and blasted a hole through the machine, pulling a Kr'Ta vial out "Stupid tin can," he muttered.

However, as he was turning to leave, a large merc, apparently under McNeil's command, stepped in front of him. "Sorry, kid, that stuff's only for grown-ups," said the merc in a condescending tone.

Techo, who had followed, mostly for the entertainment winced before sidestepping just in time for the trooper to fly backwards on the business end of a plasma orb. "Someone's having mood swings," he commented to himself.

"No, my mood is definitely set on 'ticked-off'," snapped Matt, "And if I hear one more crack about my 'set-back', the person who makes that crack is going to be swung through a window!"

Before Techo could make a joke, the deployment alarm began ringing. "Alert...M-Sector 025...Code 313: NSC-Grade Weapon fire detected. Mercenary teams to deploy to area," said the base computer calmly.

"Finally, something to vent my frustration on," said Matt.

With that, Matt strode out towards the armory. Techo calmly counted to himself, getting to 6 just as someone saying 'Hey...no kids all-" was cut off by the sound of a concussive plasma blast to the face and Matt, looking serene, walked out holding a particle rifle.

...

It seemed like the magical marketplace was a pretty common sight for rampaging monster attacks. Insurance sales for the shops have gone up in the last month alone. To that end, most of the shop owners, instead of fleeing in terror once they'd gotten past the shock of seeing a mechanical dragon smash into the place, had simply closed up and started taking bets on who would KO it first, the American Dragon or the NSC humans.

The NSC humans were the first to arrive on the scene. The armored trucks quickly positioned themselves across streets that could be used as avenues of exit. Cannons and blasters soon started targeting the robotic dragon.

"Hmm...well, it is a shame to waste all this firepower while I wait," thought Red before firing his shoulder cannon at one of the APC's incinerating it and any troopers who had been next to it. However, one of the troopers managed to fire a few sabot rounds at Red. It didn't cause any critical damage, but the small holes in his armor did sting. "Now I'm a bit annoyed," Red said, calmly, firing a petrification spell at the trooper and his squad

"What, already? But I haven't even started," called a familiar voice before a particle rifle blast skimmed Mecha Red's neck.

Mecha Red turned angrily, only to have his head whipped back and knocked over as a second shot hit him. Mecha Red growled and said, "Now I am officially irritated." He fired another anti-tank blast at where the particle rifle fire had come from.

There was a sizeable explosion, but Matt's voice rang out, "Missed me!"

"Why you little..." growled Red before a fireball slammed into his jet engines, grounding him with a heavy thud.

"Hey, Red, didn't anyone tell you the magic marketplace is for magic people?" called Jake as he landed on a nearby roof.

Red turned to glare before conjuring an icicle and throwing it at Jake. "Yes...someone briefly mentioned that," commented Mecha, sending a plasma blast at Jake, only for the blast to stop in kid air and shoot back.

"Haven't you learned by now not to use plasma blasts around me?" taunted Matt.

Mecha Red glared at Matt and said, "Just because you're not the obnoxious child I was looking for doesn't mean I won't stop and give you a well-needed lesson of discipline."

"Many have tried, few have succeeded, tin can," taunted Matt, dodging into a doorway as Mecha Red fired.

"Hey, Rustbucket, you shouldn't keep your eye off the-" started Jake before Red, not even looking, fired an electric bolos at Jake which easily wrapped his arms and wings to his sides.

"Children should be seen, not heard," said Red.

Another plasma blast blasted his shoulder cannon clear off, ammo fluid squirting out. "Grr..." growled Mecha Red before his internal comm buzzed. "Red...is the dragon there yet? Red?" said Chang.

"Your brat has finally gotten here," responded Red, "However, the humans are here as well.

"Good...let them waste energy fighting you...while I claim the prize." said Chang evilly before cutting the connection

Mecha Red growled with frustration as more bullets pinged off his armor. "I am getting fed up with this," he snarled before launching a few cluster missles.

At least, he tried. A warning message appeared, informing him that the foolish human had actually managed to hit something vital when the cannon was lost, including missile control. Mecha Red let out a few choice draconic swear words before something on his peripheral scanners caught his attention. It was that irksome Shar-Khan and he had a clear shot.

He immediately span, aiming his remaining energy cannon and tagging Matt as he tried to attack, knocking him through a wall. The mechanical dragon walked through the hole and said "You really thought you could destroy me with that? What did you hope to accomplish?" he said smugly before arcing his back as the new freed Jake slashed his back circuits.

Red's onboard computer stated, "Warning, servo controls non-functional."

"Looks like you're not going anywhere fast," said Jake.

"What a coincidence, neither are you," said another voice.

Matt and Jake looked to see Chang, holding some kind of vial in her claws. "Oh, not another joker," moaned Matt.

"It's about time," snarled Mecha Red, "Those ruffians have damaged all my weapons."

"Don't worry, I plan to do far worst to them," said Chang.

Matt, seemingly randomly fired a shot into Mecha's audio circuits. "Oops...butterfingers," he said, readying another. "Ok, granny, 2 against a fossil, I think we'll be done by lunch."

Chang glared at Matt and said, "Actually, it's someone else's turn to be the fossil. You two take your youth for granted. While I take your youth...for my own!" She suddenly hurled the vial at Jake.

Matt wasn't the smartest guy in the world, having in his earlier career only saved several worlds from messes he caused, but he didn't need to be smart to spot a magibio weapon, pushing Jake aside and taking the vial in the chest. When the vial broke, it released a whirlwind of blue smoke, but to Matt, it felt like he was caught in a sandstorm and quickly weathering away his strength. He had the vague notion he had heard Chang yell, "No, I didn't mean him!"

Jake watched in horror as matt hacked and passed out almost instantly before the smoke flowed back towards Chang and down her throat. Chang staggered and said, "My, what a rush! He must have more energy than a salamander on a bed of hot coals. You know, Jake, it's just too nice a day to waste with laying waste. I'll catch up with you another time." With a large puff of smoke, she and Mecha Red disappeared.

Matt groaned. "What hit me?" he said before screaming, the reason for the scream was quite obvious, waking up with claws for hands tends to upset.

"I don't know, Chang just tossed that vial and then blew out of her," said Jake before looking at Matt's claws, "You really need to trim those things, they're huge."

Matt gulped. "They're supposed to be that big...but not yet, they're as big as Terrador's," he gibbered.

"Yeah, you might want to put those away, or get some XXL gloves," said Jake.

Matt however seemed to have snapped, staring in catatonic horror until Jake, experimentally lifted him up and noticed that Matt was statue rigid. For a second, he stared before shrugging and carrying Matt out.

Chloe saw Jake carrying Matt out and asked, "What happened?"

"Chang got the drop on us and hit Matt with a potion," said Jake.

Chloe took a look before groaning. "Aw...it fixed him," she said before Matt twitched and one of his eyes turned draconic and she said, "Erm...I think."

"Maybe we oughta get him to bed," said Jake, "He's got knuckles the size of doorknobs."

"Yeah, he had them...once...after an encoding incident," said Chloe carefully.

"Really? What happened?" asked Jake before noticing Matt's scales were starting to travel up his arms, "On second though, I think it can wait."

"Let's get him back to base, the garage," said Chloe, worriedly.

"Do you think you can fill me in on the way?" asked Jake.

"Yes, but I don't think you should carry Matt for too long," said Chloe.

...

Chloe had ordered one of the vehicle bays closed and emptied. The techs had objected till Matt's size surge had kicked in...alot bigger than usual. Lao was summoned to examine Matt's condition, Megan was called to figure out how this was happening, Kala came running when she heard Matt was in trouble, Morph...actually, no one wanted him in there at all, particularly Matt at the moment.

Morph was on Matt's head, poking him. "Does this bug you?" he asked over and over, clearly in a mischievous/suicidal mood before Matt swatted him across the bay.

Lao looked up from his scanner and said, "I've finished the diagnosis. He's simply at the elder stage of the Avalarian life cycle."

"Uh, I know the stress of mercenary work can cause some premature aging, BUT ISN'T THIS GOING A LITTLE TOO FAR?!" snapped Chloe.

"Indeed...you say he was hit by one of Miss Chang's concoctions?" said Lao, too used to the crew's regular outbursts/freak outs to be worried.

"Yeah, but she was aiming at me," said Jake, "Matt took the hit for me and then this smoke cloud surrounded him before going down Chang's throat."

"Hmm...that is unusual...tell me. Do your people have any aging spells?" said Lao.

"I asked Fu once, but he said the only legal ones are meant for Avemetrus hatchlings attack," said Jake, "There are probably illegal ones."

"Well, I'm definitely picking up some Avemetrus magic from Matt," said Megan.

"How...bad is it?" said Chloe, her tone indicating her temper was near the blasting point

"Well, hard to say, this is a standard age-measuring spell," said Megan, holding up a charred mess that looked distinctly blown-up, "It threw a fit."

"What's that good up to?" asked Chloe, her voice rigid with self-control.

"Well, I think the problem is that Matt's not exactly running on a straight timetable at the moment," said Megan, "But from the looks of the spell before it went ka-blooey, he's currently about 101 years...and getting younger?"

"Thank god for that lunatic. I guess Shar-Ekta nanites are tougher then they seem," said Chloe.

"Eh, what's that?" asked Matt, "My scales are buffer than a dream?"

Chloe's eyes literally blazed at that. "Just a second," she said, grabbing both Matt's horns and directing the equivalent of a crash cart through it, making her brothers eyes spin like fruit machines

"Yep, the senses are the second thing to go, but I forgot what the first thing was," said Morph. Matt's eyes crossed for a second before engulfing Morph in the ultimate plasma burp

Then Matt yawned and said, "Now if young 'uns don't mind, I think I might catch a few winks..." before he nodded off and started snoring like a sawmill.

Morph, who apparently hadn't had enough karmic abuse today, said to Kala, "This is the guy you're gonna spend your diamond years with."

Kala literally roared before blasting Morph till he was a dazed smear on the far wall. Lao said desperately, "It's just a side effect..."

Megan rubbed her ears and asked, "What was that?"

"I said, it's just a side effect," said Lao, "Matt's brain won't adjust very quickly to his changing age. He'll probably be nothing like this when he really gets this old."

"Great...how can we aim him to eat Chang?" said Chloe viciously, as in her head, Chang had crossed the ultimate red line.

"I think we need to figure out what Chang has actually done to him first," said Lao.

"And I think I just did," said Megan, "I don't think Chang was wanting to just make Jake older, I think she was trying to drain his youth."

Chloe's eyes were now red, ala Draconus and she said in a venom-filled voice, "She...did...WHAT?"

"Well, I said I found what looked like Avemetrus magic on Matt, at least it matched what was recorded about them. And Jake said that cloud also went back to Chang," said Megan.

"Right, she did say something about taking our youth for herself," said Jake.

Just then, Matt let out a loud yawn, which also released a large smoky bubble from his mouth. Chloe, who had been on many of Matt's magic-related mayhems was prepared, pulling a gas mask on. The others weren't so lucky, all of them except Morph falling over.

Morph's eyes spun as he said, "Whoa, that's some funky stuff."

Chloe just faceplanted before activating the venting system, going back and electrocuting Matt till his brain started working again.

"Eh? What? GET OUT OF MY CAVE, YOU WHIPPERSNAPPERS!" yelled Matt in a clearly confused tone. Chloe glared, upped the voltage and gave him both barrels. That seemed to have restored some have Matt's wits because after he shook his head, Matt growled, "That wretched Chang. Wait until I get my claws on her..."

"My sentiments exactly, but first we need to figure out where she is," said Chloe before pausing and muttering to herself, "Let's see, if I was an evil old woman who just gotten my youth back, what would be the first thing I would do?"

"Party like its 3000AD," said Matt promptly.

Chloe winced and said, "I thought we agreed we would never discuss that night."

"Yeah...let's just got incinerate her till she cries uncle," said Matt, darkly.

"Unfortunately, there are some places you won't be able to go, seeing as you're currently stuck as a dragon that's the size of a small house," said Chloe.

"The Avalarians have a saying: a dragon the size of a Guardian goes where he wants, doors can choose to open or try to stay closed, it's their choice," said Matt.

"Fine, I doubt the whole Constructicon crew could hold you back anyways," said Chloe, "But, still, where would a person like Chang party?"

Just then, the door opened and Lao Shi walked in. "I came as soon as I- AI YA!" yelped Lao Shi as soon as he saw Matt, "I though Jake was only exaggerating about the size."

"Nope..." said Matt in a bored voice, the sorta voice that knows either terror or laughter is incoming. It was the second one apparently when Fu dog came in behind Lao Shi

"Wow, you are not going to age well," said Fu, "You'll only be able to squeeze into the giants' retirement home."

Matt said calmly, "I'm going to give your common sense 10 seconds to realize the size difference."

"I'll back, I gotta go get my over-the-hill jokebook," said Fu Dog, "Of course, in your case, that's more like over-the-mountain."

A second later, a plasma blast the thickness of a redwood shot over Fu's head and blew the garage door down. "4...5...6..." counted a furious Matt

Fu looked at the hole in the dear and could clearly see through quite a few of the real warehouses nearby. "Uh, I'll be quiet now," said Fu.

"Good move," said Matt with narrowed eyes before his own common sense supplied a fact before running off and hiding...that Chloe had the expression best associated with shortening fuses. "Uh oh," he managed.

About then, Morph was coming out of his stupor. "What did I miss?" he asked.

...

Matt padded through the streets with the gang, a compressor collar round his neck to shrink him to a more normal size though there were other problems. "Who put 'Fido' on the collar...or do I really need to ask?" he fumed.

Morph had been trying hard to keep himself from laughing but couldn't hold it in anymore. His guffaws nearly made him slip off of Matt's back.

"Morph, let it be known that you should sleep with one eye open for the next few months," said Matt, not bothering to look back before the gang stopped at what looked like an abandoned nightclub. "This is a magical nightclub?" he said skeptically.

"If I know Chang, she will be here," said Lao Shi before tapping on a nearby garbage can.

A goblin popped his head out and asked, "What's the password?"

"The wolf howls at midnight then dances till dawn," said Lao Shi.

Matt whistled as an illusion spell turned off, revealing a much better-looking building. He was about to follow when the goblin made the biggest mistake of his career. "No pets," he said before Matt grabbed him and lifted him up, his squeezing making the goblins head inflate like a stress relief toy, even down to the squeak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you," he said, opening his mouth so the goblin could see the glow of his plasma breath, oh, and the teeth the size of katanas.

"I...meant...him..." gasped the goblin, pointing at Morph who was looking mesmerized at the flashing lights.

"Ooh...pretty..." said Morph.

Matt glared. "Good," he said before tossing the goblin over his shoulder, scoring a perfect slamdunk in a dumpster across the street. "Morph...move it," he said, going inside.

The goblins hand came shakily out a second later and he rasped, "You forgot to be stamped."

Or at least, Matt tried to before he got wedged when he got his shoulders in. As he struggled to move, a cyclops who was apparently the bouncer said, "Hey, buddy, can't you read?" He pointed at a sign that said 'All guests over 9 feet tall must use the back entrance'.

"Does it apply to people who can incinerate city blocks with a burp?" said Matt before twisting the compression collar dial down to 9 feet. "Happy?" he huffed.

"You gotta get your hand or paw stamped," said the cyclops, holding up a rubber stamp.

"The goblin's slacking off," said Matt casually, pointing a thumb claw out the door.

Pretty soon, the gang was looking at the dance floor. Apparently it was disco night as there was a mirror ball hanging from the ceiling, 70's music was playing, and everyone was dressed up and dancing like it was 1969.

"Chang's here," said Chloe promptly, looking around and nodding to the few mercs that had tagged along. "Spread out along the walls...stay inconspicuous. We just want Chang." The mercs spotted and began strolling among the partygoers, only the occasional glint revealing they'd come armed.

"Ok, Lao Shi, you'd be most easily able to recognize Chang from her youth, so keep your eye and... Hey!" Chris looked around in confusion, "Where'd he go?"

Matt pointed a claw. "There he goes...ah, this is not the time to be trying to pull," he said miserably pointing.

No one was quite sure how Lao Shi had managed to change into his disco suit with anyone noticing, but he was definitely showing it up on the dance floor. "Yeah, go baby, go baby, go!" he shouted to the music.

"Oh man, this is embarrassing," moaned Jake, covering his face.

"At least his old suit still fits," said Chloe.

"I'm more interested in the dragoness he's tearing up the floor with. Tell me...does that staff look familiar?" said Matt, pointing to the dragoness he had gone over too.

Jake peered at her and said, "Yeah...I think I saw her in an old photo of Gramps', from almost forty years ago."

"Tell me...who was the other dragon in said photo?" said Matt, his gaze not leaving the dragoness in the same way an eagle's gaze doesn't leave its lunch.

Jake put his fingers together like a picture frame and said, "Well, if you add a jewel necklace to her, and subtract forty years from Gramps, it looks just like that photo of Chang!"

"Bingo, you win the car," said Matt, jumping down to the dance floor and heading towards Chang with murder in mind. "Hey, Chang. You have something of mine!" he yelled, forgetting that shrunk he might be but he could still do a full sized yell...needless to say the glass on the mirror ball exploded.

"What? Oh, right," said Lao Shi as he remembered their mission here and shifted into dragon mode to wrap Chang in his coils.

However, Chang nimbly leaped away and assumed dragon form in midair. "Ha, you old fools don't have a chance to catch me," said Chang, "I have youthful energy to burn."

"Yeah? Have you ever met an elder class Avalarian? I have...I've seen them vaporize platoons in one shot," said Matt, slowly circling Chang, who now also had a few laser sights as the merc troopers drew weapons, adding to the public panic.

"So? What does that matter?" asked Chang.

"You turned me into one." said Matt, before opening his mouth that narrowly avoided being blown into dragon mince. The blast itself demolished the far wall.

"Your power may have increased with age," said Chang, "But my power is at its peak." With that, she opened her mouth and sent a torrent of flames bigger than anyone would have though at Matt.

Matt's eyes glowed and a plasma shield that was completely opaque blocked the blast, redirecting it into another wall. Chloe looked up as dust began to rain down. "Matt, take it easy with the firepower!" yelled Chloe, "You're going to bring the whole club down!"

Matt just roared before aiming a tail swing at Chang who narrowly avoided it and watched as the metal drinks bar broke in half in a neat slice. Chloe put a hand to her face and said, "Great, yet another club/bar that Matt wrecked and I'm gonna have to pay for."

Chang however was starting to realize, though her youth drunkenness that, contrary to the usual CPS strategy, Matt seemed to be actively attempting to incinerate her. "Another time, perhaps," she said before flying out through the no-longer-existing wall.

Matt fired another blast before charging after her intent on chasing...clearly his brain tazer blast had worn off. He tried to pounce on Chang before she could fly off, but he had misjudged and ending up crashing in the street with several cracks that didn't just come from the breaking concrete. "Ow! My lumbago!" yelled Matt before pausing and asking, "Did I really just say that?" Matt looked up, shaking his head before seeing Chang leaving as fast as she could. "When I get my talons on her..." he began.

Morph waddled over to Matt and asked, "Hey, are you feeling ok? That landing looked like it hurt."

Matt said, "I've had wor-ow!" getting up and twinging as his back ached. "We have to fix this...I don't care how," he said gloomily.

"Don't worry, I know just what to do," said Morph before turning to Chris and saying, "Grab my tail and use me to whack Matt's back."

Matt simply set the compressor collar to normal size...and stepped on Morph...then jumped up and down on him. However, the pain in his back soon made him stop.

Morph crawled out from the small crater and said, "Now Matt, just hold still, it'll be better."

Chris grabbed Morph. "You realize we won't live longer than a minute if this doesn't work...right?" he said.

"Trust me, have I ever steered you guys wrong?" asked Morph.

"I think we've a pretty long enough list," said Chris before he started whacking Morph against Matt's back.

Matt winced with pain but after a bit, he felt his bones click back into place and his muscles stopped spasming. "For that...you live...for now," he said darkly.

Morph saying cheerfully "See? he's happy." forever oblivious to threats.

"How did you know that would work?" asked Chris.

"Well, that's an interesting story involving a cantankerous kaiju..." started Morph.

"No time for that, we have Chang to find and squeeze till all my youth comes out," Matt said manically.

...

Meanwhile, Chang had landed on a distant rooftop and returned to her human form. "Well, so much for my night on the town, but there's always..." she started before glancing at her reflection in a nearby AC unit and noticing that her face looked about five years older. "What? This isn't right," she said, horrified.

A voice sounded in her head at that. "You are not authorized for this technology," it said, a translucent insectoid face appearing on her reflection.

Chang jumped back and looked at her reflection again, but only saw her own face. "There must be some logical explanation," she said, "Yes, that mercenary's youth is like a flame; it shines brighter, but it burns faster. I'll probably have wrinkles again before sunrise."

"You are not authorized for this or rejuvenation magi-tech. Your DNA is being reverted. Any attempt to remove us from your blood will result in retaliation," said the voice again darkly before finally going silent.

Chang shook her head and said, "I'll just need to get another dose, just enough so I'll be powerful enough to eliminate those humans. But Lynch isn't young enough to drain again yet. Hmm...there is his sister..." The image of Matt trampling her into a smear on the asphalt shot into her mind. "Then again..." she said weakly.

She thought again and said, "Well, there is that redheaded girl with Lynch, what was her name? Doesn't matter, she couldn't possibly any more fierce than him or his sister." She reached into her bag and pulled out another vial of youth-stealing potion, "Yes, with that much youthful power, I'll be able to wipe them out before draining someone more stable."

"You will not survive," said the nanites, seemingly trying to throw a hint.

Chang shook her head and muttered, "I must have taken a bit of his dementia as well."

"If you take the redhead, he will destroy you..." said the voice before Chang cast a spell to block them

...

Meanwhile, the team was searching around the neighborhood for any signs of Chang. Fortunately, Matt was feeling a bit better since another age-scanning spell had said (before it blew up) that he was about 75 years old, but he was still no spring chicken.

"Do you think I'll get younger faster if I eat her?" he said darkly.

"Ew, you don't want to eat her," said Morph, "All that evil's gonna give you massive indigestion and heartburn."

"Not when I'm done with her," said Matt.

"Let's try to keep the cannibalistic urges under control," said Techo, "You two could incinerate an entire block in your current conditions."

"Did you have your youth sucked up like a milkshake?" snapped Matt.

"Uh, as much as I'd like to see Chang get the smackdown, I think there may be a way to get Matt young again without so much destruction. What if we found that fledgling Avemetrus and let it suck up Matt's excess age?"

"No...just no...I don't want that damn squid near me," said Matt, angrily.

"A valiant effort, but the Avemetrus has most likely left the city by now," said Lao Shi, "Anyways, it probably may not siphon the right amount of age from Matt."

"The baby's still locked in that old mall," said Techo before hearing something above them. "What was that about the Avemetrus having left?" he said in a shaking voice, pointing to several familiar tentacles and a stump waving over the roof's edge.

"Er, Chloe, you're the one that chopped off its tentacle, you deal with it," said Jake.

"I never chopped off anything," said Chloe before saying, "Do any spells use Avemetrus parts?" noticing that while the creature could see them, it seemed...uninterested.

"Hmm...I have heard that an Avemetrus's tentacle could be used in certain potions, namely with age-changing," said Lao Shi.

"That's what she used, I'm sure of it," growled Matt as the Avemetrus leapt over to the next building and continued on its way.

"How much you wanna bet Mr. Squiddy is heading for Chang?" said Techo.

"And if it's like the Krylock, vanquishing it will turn you both back to normal," said Jake.

"FOLLOW THAT SQUID!" yelled Matt. While Matt was very eager to test if Jake's theory was correct, the others were able to hold him back enough to see if the Avemetrus was heading for Chang. The Avemetrus stopped on the next roof and peered around before, to everyone's surprise began heading for CPS headquarters.

"Uh, why would Chang be heading for HQ?" asked Techo.

"Because it's the last thing we would expect?" suggested Morph.

"Cause she's found a second course," said Matt horrified.

"But would she be wanting to suck youth from..." asked Chloe before realizing what he meant, "Oh no, Kala!"

Matt pushed the mercs holding him down and took off, flying back for HQ while Chloe got on her comm. "Gate control, you got a serious problem incoming. I'm sending a picture. DON'T LET THE PERSON ON IT IN!" she said, scanning a helmet cam pic of Chang.

"Er, that looks like the lady who just walked in," came the reply, "She says she's an old friend of Lao Shi and she had some kind of gift for his merc friends. We've been checking her for any-" Suddenly, the message was cut off and Chloe could only get static.

"Oh crap. Let's go, get to the jeeps," she said pushing Jake and Chris towards the gang's vehicles.

Matt growled and said, "I'm gonna tear her apart!" before taking off with a roar that nearly drowned out Morph's scream as he struggled to hang on to Matt's back.

...

Kala walked through the perimeter of the base. After what had happened to Matt, she was already concocting a few of her own revenges specially for Chang when she looked up to find she had almost walked into a dragoness who was looking around with a lost expression.

"Oops, sorry about that," said Kala before pausing and asking, "Wait, have we met before?"

"I've been here 4 ti...oh...it's...it's fine," said the dragoness, looking in shock at Kala.

Kala scratched her head. This dragoness seemed so familiar, but she couldn't quite place her voice off the top of her head. "You weren't with the Councils once, were you?" she asked.

"Erm...once," said the dragoness, reaching into her clothing pocket for something.

"Yeah, you were definitely with the Council during the dragon games and...wait a minute," said Kala before stopping and sniffing, "Is that the smell of bananas?"

The dragoness swore before swinging her staff out, clonking Kala on the back of the head and knocking her out before pulling out, to her personal horror, one of Bananas B's...lunches. "Stupid monkey," she muttered, grabbing Kala.

Just then, she heard a distant roar. "Ah, sounds like Lynch will be arriving soon," said Chang before another roar was heard. "Oh, that's more of a problem," she said, recognizing the shriller one, "I better find a more private place to drain this girl."

"Warning...Hostile actions detected...Sector 2-9. Assault teams are to neutralize hostile," said the base's computer causing Chang to groan.

"I've had enough of stumbling around this place anyways," said Chang before pointing her staff upwards and blasting through the ceiling. She flew up...and had to roll to avoid a plasma blast as Matt swooped down on her.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU WITCH!" roared Matt.

Chang turned and smirked. "You seem to forget, I'm still younger then you," she yelled before another blast parted her mane.

"You forget, I'M RAGING MAD!" yelled Matt.

Morph gave a gulp and said, "Before anyone forgets, I'm starting to get a little queazy." The shrill roar was heard again. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that," said Morph.

Chang turned in surprise and had to fly down to avoid a thrown truck. The thrower, the Avimetrus climbed over the perimeter wall, ignoring the shots from the perimeter guns.

"Yeah, looks like he's miffed for you taking his tentacle," said Morph, "Guess not everybody had tentacles that grow back quickly."

Matt turned his back to glare at Morph, "Did I ask for a backseat commentary?" The Avimetrus whipped out a tentacle, grabbing Chang by the leg and starting to hold her in place. "Hey! I got first dibs on her!" yelled Matt before flying at the Avemetrus. The creature roared, before swatting Matt into one of the ammo shacks before turning its attention back to Chang, snaring another tentacle and trying to pull her closer.

As Chang was struggling to get free, Morph appeared next to her. "You know, you look pretty occupied, let me take this off your hand," said Morph before taking Kala out of Chang's grip, "Yay! I'm the hero!" Chang glared and used her now-free hand to send Morph flying in Matt's direction.

The Avemetrus's tentacles started to glow as Chang felt her ill-gotten youth slipping away. "I guess I'll have to use this sooner than I expected," said Chang as she got out the vial with the youth-draining potion.

"Morph, I'll give you all the cake you want after this," he said before wincing, putting Morph in his mouth and, with a 'ptwi' noise, spat him at Chang.

However, Matt's aim was slightly off. Instead of flying at Chang, he was sent flying towards a prone Kala about the same time that Chang tossed the vial. But instead of the vial hurling towards Kala, Morph ended up in its path of trajectory and the bottle smacked him in his slightly-more-solid stomach and cracked open. Morph gulped, "Oh, this won't end well..." before the potion took effect.

A blue cloud of smoke came out of the bottle and quickly covered up Morph. However, the cloud didn't stop there. It got bigger and darker until it was almost black and the size of a garage. Bolts of lightning seemed to crackle inside of it.

Chang took a step back in horror. "You stupid blob...what did you URK!" she said before the Avemetrus decided to take advantage to sneakily snare a tentacle around her neck

The lightning flashes in the cloud became more frequent as energy started swarming over the surface. "I might have done something stupid," said Matt, backing up. Suddenly, a bolt of energy shot out of the cloud right towards Chang. There was a loud thunderclap as everything went white for a minute.

Matt opened his eyes and raised a human hand to his face. His normal hand. "WOOHOO...I'M CURED!" he yelled, air punching.

Kala moaned and sat up. "What happened?" she asked, "Who's that?" Matt looked towards where Kala was pointing and saw what looked like Chang, only with her hair pure white, her face creviced with wrinkles, and her back hunched over from great age. Behind her, where the Avemetrus was standing, was a large pile of dust.

Matt got up as several troopers ran into view. "Chang?" he said, carefully while keeping a hand on his stunner.

Chang glared at Matt and said in a quaking voice, "Look what you've done to me, you fool!"

"Nope, you did this to yourself. Morph vanished into limbo a few months ago, but I have no idea exactly how long he's been gone. You tried to absorb the ocean with a sponge," commented Matt.

"Oh my gosh, Morph!" cried Kala before rushing over to where Morph lay. She picked him up and asked, "Are you alright?"

Morph gave her a dazed look and said, "I'm okay, I'm squishy."

"He's fine, if he can survive strolling through rifts, he can probably survive anything," said Matt, before looking at Chang. "Coming quietly?" he said.

"I may be older, but I'm still-" started Chang before she broke into a racking cough. After a bit, she said, "Maybe I should lie down for a while."

"Yeah...these nice troopers will take you down to a secure room," said Matt, nodding to the troopers who came, grabbing her by the arms gently but firmly.

"I thought you were planning to rip her to bits?" said Morph.

"She's past her sell-by date," commented Matt, watching as Chang was led down to the brig by the troopers.

"One more question, what's that?" asked Kala, pointing at the dust pile nearby.

"Evidentially the Avemetrus," said Matt, "It probably got warped to its real age."

"Does this mean there'll be a new Avemetrus popping up sometime soon?" asked Morph.

Matt commented, "I've had enough of squid. The Council don't even officially recognize you, me and Chloe. Let them deal with it."

"Great, now we just need to clean this stuff off the roof," said Kala.

"I got it," said Morph before turning into Felix and sucking up some of the dust.

Matt thought back to the machine from that morning. "I need a drink...lots of drink," he said.

...

Mecha Red had been curious as to how well Chang's plan would fold out. So while Chang was out partying, he had Laserbeak tail her to see what all would happen.

He looked at the readout from the watching Laserbeak as Morph caused Chang's potion to backfire and reverse. "Fascinating...the age needed to cause such a mana backlash..." he muttered.

"I had heard that blob has been sent adrift through dimensions, but I had no idea it was so long for him," said Ghoulwyrm, who was currently bubbling in a restoration potion to regenerate his body.

"Well, apparently it was enough to kill an eater of age. We should watch that creature with care...is he picking his own nose...with his tongue?" said Mecha Red with disgust.

"That creature may be about as bright as a dark cave, but he's the most unpredictable being I've ever met," said Ghoulwyrm, "Still, his stupidity is a hindrance for his friends more often than to us."

Red sighed before standing up and clicking a flamethrower onto his shoulder slot. "I will go retrieve our wayward ally…" before Ghoulwyrm said "I wouldn't...at least not till that spell wears off."

"By the way, why didn't you tell Chang that the potion was only temporary?" asked Mecha Red.

Ghoulwyrm shrugged as best as he could with his neck and said, "Well, it's a laugh, isn't it?"

* * *

Another chapter, this one featuring another creature from the show, the Avemetrus. It also gives an interesting look at Matt's (and Chloe's and Kala's) and a brief glimpse of Morph's ambiguous past travels. Well, not so much for Morph, but it does show there's more than him than meets the eye. But don't think this is the last of Chang. She'll be showing up again. Anyways, keep an eye out for the next chapter and please review.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

While Chang may be currently behind bars, it would appear that Ghoulwyrm was still active. Word around the underground was that Ghoulwyrm had gotten a new kind of biological weapon and was storing it in a small farm outside of the city.

The CPS had taken the job, given it was clear who Ghoulwyrm would test his new toy on first. It was for this reason why half an armored division was on the main dirtroad, blocking the way. "Ok...Delta will head up the main road. Lynch, your team has the...privilege of securing the weapon," said McNeil with a cold smirk

"Yeah, sure, and deal with whatever security Ghoulwyrm left there," said Matt sarcastically.

"Actually, the security is relatively light," said one of McNeil's men, "Seems skull-face was counting more on secrecy to keep this thing protected."

"I somehow don't believe you," said Matt cautiously.

"Do we even know what this weapon is?" asked Chloe.

"Whatever it is, it has a horrific stench," said the trooper, "Not even the crows will go near this place."

"Great, gas masks everyone," said Matt.

The farm itself wasn't much. The farmhouse and the barn looked pretty dilapidated. There were scarecrows standing in the field, but the fields were overrun with weeds.

"Ok, spread out," said Matt, before stopping under the farmhouse window as he heard voices.

"Ugh, I can't believe we have to watch over this dungheap," complained Mecha Red's voice, "This place is disgusting."

Omnirus's gagging voice said, "At least...you can turn your...nose off."

"We ought to have those automatons do the watching, this is demeaning," said Mecha Red.

"Ghoulwyrm says they're not ready," said Mecha Red's voice before stopping, "Did you remember to engage the security systems?

"I thought you were in charge of that," said Omnirus.

"Oh for heaven's sake..." muttered Mecha Red. Matt winced and dived into an empty water barrel as Mecha Red walked out and headed for one of the scarecrows, sadly sitting next to the barrel. "Why must I always be paired up with lazy shifters?" grumbled Mecha Red. Matt winced before noticing he was sitting on some kind of control remote. "Where is that stupid remote?" muttered Mecha Red before absently taking the remote as Matt reached it up "Thank you," he said absently before stopping and looking into the empty barrel, Matt having exited stage left.

Mecha Red clicked on the remote, causing the scarecrow's eyes to briefly flash red. "There, hopefully they're more effective than those overgrown bugs," said Mecha Red before turning back to the house.

Matt, hiding under the house, thought "What bugs?" before turning to see a cockroach the size of a dog staring back at him. "Oookay, I guess Ghoulwyrm's not using myosquitos right now," said Matt.

"Gabba," said the roach, shrugging before jumping on Matt's face.

...

Omnirus, sitting at a table jumped as the floor seemed to bump by itself. "Huh? Huh...tremor," she said bored. However, there were a couple more bumps and Omnirus was starting to hear the sound of someone yelling. "What's going on down there?" she asked before sharpening her Diamondblast arm to a point.

She stabbed it down before peering down the hole and screaming as one of Ghoulwyrm's negaroaches went 'BLAAAAAAH!' through the hole at her, making its reptilian style eyes spin.

"Stupid bugs," snapped Omnirus before sending a few fire crystal shards at it.

...

Chloe and the others were waiting near the barn when Matt walked into view, smoldering and for some reason, wearing a giant alien roach as some kind of hat. "Don't ask or I hurt you," he said darkly. One advantage of wearing a gas mask is that you can hide your smirks from those who would be irritated by them.

The roach however seemed to have a good idea of revenge, seemingly going cross-eyed. Chloe leaned towards Matt and said, "Cute pet you got there, bro." However, she was certainly less amused when the roach spat goo all over her face. The bug made a 'hehehehehehehe' noise at Chloe as Matt finally got it off. Chloe sighed and tried to wipe the goo off...only to find it stuck her hand in place.

Techo however said, "Door sealed itself, McNeil's trooper tried to open it," he said, nodding to a blackened helmet sitting on a pile of soot.

"Right, well, I'm sure you can open it quietly enough to not alert the scarecrows," said Matt.

Chris gave him what was probably an odd look. "Scarecrows?" he asked incredulously.

The bug however was happily chewing on the wall. "Erm...guys?" said Techo, trying to get their attention.

However, the others seemed too occupied with debating where scarecrows could be counted as a viable threat or not. Techo just shrugged and turned back to the wall, seeing that the bug had made a hole big enough for him to pass through.

The gang walked in and Matt said, "Ok, let's see this terrifying biological..." His voice petered out when they saw the sole occupant of the barn. It looked a lot like a cross between a water buffalo and a bison, only with a very, very shaggy mane that easily covered its face. It was too busy eating from a bucket to really notice the intruders.

"A cow...we came all the way here to pick up a side of beef?" said Matt, darkly. The cow paused and looked up at the group, though it was hard to tell since its mane covered up its eyes. It snorted before it started eating again.

"Ok...this is not a weapon...AND GET THIS THING OFF MY HEAD!" said Matt, yelling the last part as the negaroach jumped back on his head.

Chris walked up to the cow and said, "Maybe it's standing over a trapdoor." He got behind the cow and started pushing its rear. "Ugh...this thing is heavy..." he panted.

Chloe counted under her breath before the cow reached forward with a back hoof...and sent Chris shooting through the wall with what looked like a gentle tap before generating an air that it was sniggering without making a noise.

"Ok...that's no ordinary bovine," said Techo.

"I thought I heard something," said Mecha Red behind them, firing a blast of glue at them before they could move. "It seems the barn has roaches...no offense," he said, seemingly at Matt.

As Matt struggled to get out, he said, "So this is what Ghoulwyrm's reduced to: cattle rustling?"

Mecha Red laughed and said, "You don't know much about magical creatures, do you?"

"What is that?" said Matt, the roach scuttling off his head and climbing up onto the cow.

"That, you ignorant fool, is a catoblepas, a rare magical beast from Africa. As you can probably guess, it has...special properties," said Mecha Red.

"Like wha-?" began Matt before the roach, apparently satisfied, bit the catoblepas's tail, causing it to go bug eyed and...well...

Almost too fast to see, Mecha Red, who happened to be standing behind the catoblepas was sent flying out of the barn by what could easily be mistaken for a green and very, very smelly cannonball.

After a second, Techo voiced everyone's thoughts, "What the crud was that?"

Matt said weakly, "Exactly...I coulda happily lived never seeing that." Now that Red was...disabled for the moment, Matt could plasma-blast the glue off of them. "Ok, I think we know why Ghoulwyrm wants this big ox for," said Matt, "Now we have to move it out of here."

Matt walked out to call McNeil with the all-clear while Chloe looked at the catoblepas. "Ok...hands up who wants to go near that," she said weakly

Everyone stepped back at that. Chris managed to stagger back into the barn and said, "Ok, now I'm giving him the horns," he snarled before grabbing the catoblepas by the horns and pulling. The catoblepas gave an annoyed grunt before it tossed back its mane briefly. There was a brief flash of red and suddenly Chris froze in place.

Matt came back. "Ok what did I-MMMMPH!" he began before the terrified 'Bugsy' facehuggered him knocking him back out again with a muffled scream.

Chloe stared before prodding Chris who went over like he was made of granite. "Well...that's new," she said weakly. Fortunately, a quick pulse check confirmed that Chris wasn't dead. But from the way his eyes were moving and the sounds he was trying to make through his gritted teeth, he couldn't move any other parts of his body.

"Ok...so let's look at the inventory: we've got an ox that has a paralyzing stare at one end and a freaking cannon at the other..." said Techo before looking briefly at where Matt was on his back, flailing at Bugsy. "...and another mascot." he finished.

"So how are we going to move it?" asked Chloe.

Techo thought before scooting the bucket the catoblepas was eating from forward. The beast made an annoyed grunt before walking forward to eat some more. "We could push it with the tank," suggested Techo before seeing the gangs stare. "What? I'm serious."

...

About an hour later, which involved too much pushing and shoving, the gang had managed to transport the catoblepas to a trailer and took to the one guy they'd know who'd be able to tell them more about it.

"Ai ya! Fu Dog, what have you brought in this time?" snapped Lao Shi as he walked down the stairs and spotted the catoblepas in his shop. He swore in Catonese and asked, "Where did you get that?"

"Which one?" said Matt gloomily before, to Lao's surprise, Bugsy stuck his head out of the register with a 'RAAAAH!" noise before scuttling up the wall.

"He means the giant ox thing," said Techo, gloomily. The 'ox' had made their lives literal hell all the way.

"Ghoulwyrm was keeping it on a farm," said Kala, "Apparently, it's a catoblepas and it has super strength, a paralyzing stare, a...particular defense system in the rear, and a stubborn streak that can span the Grand Canyon."

"He must have taken great lengths to get it here. This creature can be very dangerous...and also has plenty of uses in potions and black magic," said Lao Shi thoughtfully before seeing a lack of something in the register. "Where is all my change!?" asked Lao Shi. Bugsy hiccuped and a quarter popped out of its mouth. "AI YA...YOUR LITTLE INSECT ATE MY INCOME!" yelled Lao Shi before grabbing a broom and trying to hit Bugsy, who just bit into the end and was flailed about, with every sign he was enjoying himself.

"It's not like there was much in there anyways," said Techo.

Matt finally got the broom away. "Back to the trouble at hand. The giant ox thing, how do we get rid of it?" he said.

"We need to send it back to Africa," said Lao Shi, "It does not belong in New York."

"Ok...how?" said Matt, he and the group watching as, behind Lao, Bugsy ate the broom.

"The Dragon Council will be able to arrange for a ship to take it back to Africa. We simply need to transport it to the harbor," said Lao Shi.

"Yes, we'll be sure to bug ou...I mean get him there," said Chloe before a 'burp' was heard from Bugsy.

"So what exactly do you think Ghoulwyrm was wanting to use this thing for?" asked Techo. "Well, it would be very useful for paralyzing enemies, as Chris and Omnirus can testify." Chris, who was propped against the door made some angry mumbling.

"True, but without proper motivation, the catoblepas is not likely to attack anyone. However, there is another way to use it that Ghoulwyrm would most likely use," said Lao Shi, "Have you heard of a creature called the cockatrice?"

Matt said, "More or less..." innocently, getting a few weird looks. "Erm...I read about it," he said.

Lao Shi pulled out a book and said, "The cockatrice is a dangerous creature that is not natural at all. It can only be created by brooding a rooster's egg beneath a toad."

"Roosters lay eggs about as often as the Captain sings in tune...OW!" said a trooper, yelping as Matt kicked him.

"It's just an old-fashioned term for an unfertilized chicken egg," said Fu Dog, "Which you can easily find in any grocery."

"What's with the surgeon mask?" asked Chloe, noticing what Fu was wearing on his face.

"My sense of smell's like a hundred times more sensitive than yours," said Fu, "How else could I even get close to that smelly thing?" The Catoblepas turned to glare at Fu, its eyes shielded.

"Sounds like a cockatrice isn't so hard to make," said Kala.

"It would, if it weren't for one crucial detail: the egg that the toad broods has to incubate in a pile of catoblepas dung, that is where the cockatrice draws most of its deadly power," said Lao Shi, opening the book to show a magical illustration of the 'cockatrice equation'.

"Otherwise, you'd just have eggs ala toad, a-goo-goo," said Fu.

"Great, we're transporting a weapon factory," said Matt darkly.

"Don't worry, Ghoulwyrm probably didn't have this hefty heifer that long," said Fu, "If he wants a full army of cockatrices, he'll have to get it back."

"Which is why we must return to Africa immediately," said Lao Shi.

Matt turned as Chris made a groan in the back of his throat. "Is there a cure for Chris?" he said.

"The catoblepas's stare will wear off in an hour," said Lao Shi.

Chloe glanced at her watch and said, "Chris still has about 20 minutes." Chris made a more annoyed sound.

"However, there is a way to release him quicker," said Lao Shi.

Matt, who had pulled out a permanent marker, said "I'm not in that big a hurry." scribbling glasses on Chris

Chris made an angrier sound. "Oh for Pete's sake, just un-paralyze him already!" snapped Techo, "That grunting's driving me nuts."

"Fine...but first, for when he teased me during my...age problem," said Matt before delivering a Megan kick.

Chris gave out a long muted scream. "Very well, now no one talk, this is an ancient and complex art," said Lao Shi before walking over to Chris. Suddenly, he started judo flipping Chris onto the floor before spinning him around over his head and slamming him on the ground one last time.

Matt stared. "Well...if he can move after that..." he said weakly.

Chris's finger twitched before his whole body slumped against the floor. "He shall be fine in about two minutes, one if he's a quick healer," said Lao Shi, dusting off his hands.

Matt poked Chris who made a squeaking noise. "Better make that three," he commented.

...

Ghoulwyrm's regeneration has been going along fine. His limbs still needed to be reknitted and reattached, but otherwise he was fine. So he was in good enough condition to yell at Mecha Red and Omnirus.

"How could you let them get away with the catoblepas?!" he yelled, "Do you have any idea of how much I had to arrange to get it in the first place?!"

"Oh please, I have a hole in my chestplate. You didn't warn us that it...ejected with just force," snapped Mecha Red, who was in the corner, trying to weld a replacement.

"If it's not startled, it'll drop like any other animal," said Ghoulwyrm, "That's why I wanted it isolated someplace quiet."

"Maybe you shouldn't have use UPS to transport it then?" snapped Omnirus.

"How many other companies are willing to ship a 'wildebeest' for a 'private zoo'?" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "You think I wouldn't have done something more subtle if it were possible?"

"You should have just used a teleport spell," snapped Omnirus.

"Then it would have knocked several holes in the wall and won't produce decent dung for a month!" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "Haven't you two ever read about catoblepases before?!"

"It's better than the damn negaroaches that tagged along," said Omnirus coldly.

"For the last time, I don't know how they snuck in and- Oh, I'm wasting my time! Get out, both of you!"

Mecha Red said, "I would but my leg servo's are still broken."

"OUT!" roared Ghoulwyrm, making purple flames shoot up.

Mecha Red said calmly, "Fine...I guess you don't want to know where the catoblepas is then."

The purple flames simmered down. "How would you know where it is?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"I put a tracker on it as soon as it arrived," said Mecha Red, apparently examining his talons smugly.

"Good, the others will have something to go on then," said Ghoulwyrm.

"What others? You hired freelancers?" said Mecha Red angrily.

"Of course not," said Ghoulwyrm, "I've just recalled some agents from the field."

Mantichrome floated through a door and said in a bitter tone, "And interrupted some important research."

"Oh...the flying virus," said Mecha Red coldly, smirking as one of Mantichrome's viruses bounced off the warding spell he had upon himself.

"Why send him?" said Omnirus, sounding bitter.

"Because, o illiterate one, the catoblepas's paralyzing gaze will only freeze flesh, and thus robots are immune," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Yes, but he has about as much offensive capability as you do with your head cut off." said Omnirus, Mantichrome glaring when even Ghoulwyrm nodded once at that.

"That's why he has backup," said Sideways, stepping out of the shadow, "Able-bodied warriors who can't be paralyzed."

"We shall bring back this bovine," said Strapwing, perched on Sideways' shoulder, "It shall not escape."

Mecha Red glared before looking at Ghoulwyrm, "What's this? Replacing us already?"

"Mantichrome's minions, I assure you," said Ghoulwyrm, "We may be bringing in new technology to this war, but I'm not forsaking the ancient arts."

"Hmph...this idiot should know. Technology is useless against magic. That merc's tech only works because it is hybridized with the finer arts," said Red coldly.

Mantichrome gave Red a condescending look and said, "Your body may be built with advanced technology, but your mind is still that of an antiquated old lizard."

Red glared and muttered something in Avalarian.

"Enough of this posturing," snapped Ghoulwyrm, "While we waste time here, doubtless the mercenaries are attempting to place the catoblepas out of my reach. Do not let them leave this coast with that beast!"

"Oh stop talking in that 'ye olde' voice. This isn't World of Warcraft. Just tell us who we're after," said Sideways.

Omnirus gave Sideways an amused look and said, "Haven't you been listening? Lynch and his friends stole Ghoulwyrm's magic cow and you need to get it back so Ghoulwyrm can make more basilisks."

"Cockatrices!" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "Don't you know anything about magic?"

Sideways glared, remembering his last run in with the Lynches. "That idiot? I thought he was dead," he said.

"I've wished that more times than I can remember," said Ghoulwyrm, "But still, there's always another chance it might happen."

Mantichrome said, "What did I say about cockiness? That fool human has more lives than a cat."

"More lives than an alley full of cats," said Ghoulwyrm, "But we're wasting time. I need the catoblepas back, alive and unharmed, feel free to do whatever you want to whoever's in your way."

...

While shipping the catoblepas may sound simple in theory, there are always a few unpredicted events that make it harder. One of those is the catoblepas feeling like taking a nap and not wanting anyone to move it.

McNeil therefore was treated to see his least favorite mercs huddled behind a blast shield, staring at what looked like a cow. "You gotta be kidding me," he muttered before striding towards them, "What, pray tell, are you doing?"

Matt, wearing a bomb squad suit, said, "Believe me...you wanna hide back here." in an apparently terrified voice.

"From what, an ugly yak? Have you lost what little sanity you have left?" asked McNeil.

"It's not a yak, it's a catoblepas," said Chloe, who was wearing full riot gear.

"I don't care what breed of cow it is, get it off the street," said McNeil.

Matt stopped at that and smirked, "Ok...you show us how it's done."

"Gladly, since you're too dumb to do it yourself," said McNeil before striding up to the 'cow'. "Ok, you lazy ton of hamburger meat, get moving," snapped McNeil. The 'cow' seemed to ignore and turned the other way. "Don't you brush me off, you undercooked steak, I said move it!" snapped McNeil, pulling the 'cow's' head back towards him, "Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you!"

Matt waited while McNeil seemed to be having a staring contest before strolling over and pushing the now petrified McNeil over and pulling out the marker pen again and writing 'Smeghead' in large letters on McNeil's forehead. McNeil's muted yelling was ignored as Matt rolled him out of the way. "Ok, now the comedy relief's over, how are we going to move this thing?" he asked.

"I put out a call, transport will be arriving soon," said Techo.

Matt stopped before strolling over to the catoblepas and saying, "Can you talk? I can never be sure with you guys." before noticing the others' looks. "What...worth a try." The catoblepas gave a moo before lying its head down. Matt shrugged and said, "I guess it's just a magical animal then."

Just then, a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer pulled up. More noticeable was the red dune buggy besides it. "How's it goin'?" asked Dune Runner.

"Oh good, move the cow and let's go," said Matt.

Dune Runner switched to robot mode and looked at the catoblepas. "Dis de creature Techo told me about? Can't ya pick him up yerself?" he asked.

Matt shrugged and fired a plasma blast just past the catoblepas's head, getting no reaction except a bored 'huff' noise as if the creature was saying 'Yeah, whatever'.

"Well, might as well get liftin'," said Dune Runner before wrapping all four arms around the beast. With a loud grunt of effort, Dune Runner managed to lift the catoblepas off the ground. "Boy, dis be a heavy side of beef," said Dune Runner as he tried to walk towards the trailer.

"Easy, don't put your head so close to the rear end," called Matt.

Dune Runner managed to get the catoblepas over to the trailer's door before having to put him down. "Phew, I may need some help with dis," said Dune.

"Oh no, I saw what it did to Mecha Red," said Matt, backing up.

"C'mon, I just need some help liftin' it in," said Dune Runner.

Matt turned to dragon form and cautiously approached. "If I die from this, I'm gonna haunt you," he threatened.

"Ok, one...two...three..." said Dune Runner as the two of them lifted the catoblepas up and towards the trailer. The catoblepas apparently didn't like that as it gave off a loud low of protest.

Matt gulped, given he was near the rear end before doubling his efforts. As soon as the beast was in the trailer, Matt dived to the side and yelled, "TAKE COVER!"

Dune was confused before what sounded like a cannon was heard and the far wall...vanished. Dune Runner stared at the catoblepas and asked, "Did that ting swallow a cannon or someting?"

"No...that came as standard," whimpered Matt, who had lost the tips of his horns, the ends literally smoking.

Dune winced he saw Matt's horns, "Uh, dose will grow back, right?"

"Ooooowwww," moaned Matt

Kala ran over to Matt and asked, "Matt, are you okay? Do you want me to make it feel better?"

"Nuuuuh NUUUUUUUH…" gibbered Matt, glassy eyed.

Chloe rolled her eyes and said, "Oh for Pete's sake, there's a simple spell that will grow back the tips if Matt doesn't want to go for the battle-damaged look."

"How would you know?" asked Chris.

"Well, I looked a few cosmetic spells on Avalar and it's, uh, NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" snapped Chloe. Matt just kept staring, though this time it was with a 'trying not to laugh' face.

Dune Runner brushed off his servos and said, "So, we take dis ting over to de dock and get it on a cargo ship? Dat doesn't sound too hard."

"DON'T JINX I-urk!" began Matt before the catoblepas glared at him.

Chloe sighed and said, "If he wasn't necessary for this mission, I'd say leave him like that for an hour. Now, how does that un-paralyzing technique go again?" Matt glared at the group angrily, promising pain.

…

A short time later, the small convoy was rolling down the street with the catoblepas locked up in the trailer. "So, how long will it take to get to the docks?" asked Chloe.

"Well, it ought to take about 30 minutes, but considering the local traffic, probably three times longer," said Techo.

"Great...stuck on the freeway with a cow in the back," muttered Matt darkly.

"Just be glad it decided to sleep during the trip," said Chris, "It could probably break out of that trailer with little effort if it wanted to."

"Don't remind me." muttered Matt

…

Of course, the long wait was enough to test anyone's patience. But since New Yorkers had a tendency for honking their horns while they're in traffic, tempers quickly got short.

"If I hear one more honk, something's going to die and screw the NSC''s cover," said Matt darkly.

"Matt...these are just average civilians...it's not their fault that they're..." said Chloe through clenched teeth before suddenly a car cut into a space in front of them, forcing the truck to lurch to a stop. "STUIPD BUFFALO-HEADED MORONS!" yelled Chloe, her eyes flashing with electricity. Matt gulped and tried to dive under the seat at that.

"Chloe, try to calm down before we have another Three Mile Island incident," said Chris.

"I'd be much calmer...if they just GET OUT OF MY WAY!" snapped Chloe.

"Chloe...your blood pressure," whimpered Techo as the steering wheel began to smoke under Chloe's electrical touch.

Considering someone was likely to have a temperamental meltdown with potentially devastating consequences, Dune Runner thought it was time to do something. He quickly changed into his robot mode and shouted, "EVERYBODY MOVE!" before changing back to his buggy mode. The other drivers weren't sure what they saw, but they immediately cleared away from the area around Dune.

"Nice..." grinned Matt.

The convoy quickly moved through and took a side street. This area was significantly less congested and progress was swifter. "Well, that takes about 40 minutes off," said Techo.

"Good, as long as nothing else happens, in an hour we can all shower to get the smell out," said Matt, happily

"Which will probably take another hour," said Chloe, who was still a little grumpy, but not as livid as before.

"Oh calm down. Mecha Red's in pieces, who else can they send?" said Matt cheerfully before the escort truck in front exploded.

The group looked up to see what looked like a small flying wing swoop down overhead before shifting into a gargoyle-like robot mode and landing on the hood of their truck. "Sorry, there's a toll here. The price is one catoblepas," said Strapwing.

Mat snapped at that, pulling out a particle bazooka and yelling "BUZZ OFF YOU OVERGROWN TIN CAN." firing at Strapwing and causing the bot to yelp and dodge.

"Didn't think they'd send Stopwatch," said Chris.

Techo gave him an odd look and said, "I thought it was Strepthroat."

Strapwing gave them an annoyed look and said, "It's Strapwing!"

Matt spun to aim at Strapwing. "Thanks dummy," he said and fired again.

Sideways, who was watching from a nearby rooftop, winced as Strapwing was sent flying. "I guess shock and awe doesn't work on these guys," said Sideways, "I guess we'll have to go for some sniping."

Mantichrome, who was trying to get a pigeon off his head with no success, said, "Oh please, sniping doesn't work on those guys as you well know. They just blow up the building."

Sideways looked at Mantichrome and said, "You seem to be having an odd amount of bad luck lately."

"I know, first that 18-wheeler ran me down on the Brooklyn Bridge, now this pigeon... MECHA, that damn robot cast a spell on me... GET THIS BIRD OFF MY PROCESSOR!" said Mantichrome, screaming the last part.

Sideways sighed and grabbed the pigeon with his thumb and forefinger. "I'd dispose of it here, but I'd rather not get a mess on my servo," said Sideways before hurling the poor bird away.

Mantichrome sighed before seeing Sideways jump as he turned back to him. "What is it this time?" asked Mantichrome, apparently not noticing the pigeons that was on all of his crests quite yet.

Sideways said faintly, "Nothing," before turning away, making a memo in his system never to piss Mecha Red off.

Just then, Mantichrome heard the sound of cooing and glanced up.

...

A loud scream from the rooftop and a scattering pigeons was ignored by the gang who were trying to get the convoy rolling again. "Look, let's just go. I think that bot was Sideway's pet. Last thing we need is that bigger tin can around," said Matt.

"Hang on, I nearly got the last of the wreckage," said Dune Runner as he tossed another charred hunk of metal into a nearby dumpster.

"Good, let's just go. This place is a perfect place to be vaporized," said Matt.

A sudden bang made them all jump. "What the smeg was that?" asked Chris.

"The tire," said Chloe, noticing how the front right tire of the truck had been blown out. And by the smell of burning rubber, it probably wasn't caused by a nail.

Matt reached into the truck for his blaster rifle and looked around. "Guns up," he said, looking around.

A few more bangs were heard, making everyone dive for cover. Fortunately, it turns out that the targets were the other tires.

"Dammit...he must be on the roof," said Matt, looking upwards for any sign of whoever was blasting the tires.

Dune Runner got his guns out and said, "Alright, show yourself, you two-faced backstabber." A blast shot down at that, narrowly missing Matt, who rolled for cover. "Got ya," said Dune Runner, firing upwards.

There was a yelp as someone was hit before Mantichrome's voice yelled "OH COME ON!"

"Yep, they're up there," said Dune Runner, "I just need something heavy to hit them with." He grabbed a nearby garbage can and hurled up towards the rooftop.

There was a clang and another yelp of displeasure from Mantichrome

"Ok, let's head up there and-" started Matt before the sound of tearing metal was heard. "What was that?" asked Matt.

Kala looked back and said, "Our cargo deciding to take a stroll."

"FOLLOW THAT...cow...I can't believe I said that," said Matt, gloomily.

The catoblepas could run a bit faster than the gang would have guessed, but at least it was easy to follow. All that had to do was look for the freshly-dented cars, signposts, and anything else that the catoblepas happened to pass too close to.

"Least it's easy to follow," said Techo, looking round the corner before double taking to see a hole in a wall that the catoblepas had made by simply walking through,

The reason it went through was pretty obvious. Said wall was part of a green grocer's store and the beast was happily munching on the produce. The shopkeeper feebly held up a broom and said, "Uh, shoo?" The catoblepas froze him with a glare before returning to its meal.

Matt and Chris peered in. "Ok...how do we get this thing to move?" asked Chris before Kala walked between them and grabbed a carrot.

"Hey, look what I got," she said temptingly, waving the carrot at the catoblepas. The catoblepas tried to chomp the carrot, but Kala moved it out of its reach. The catoblepas gave an annoyed grunt and started following the carrot and Kala out.

Matt and Chris stared as Kala smirked at them as she led the creature out. "This never happened," Matt said dully.

Muffled sounds returned their attention to the paralyzed grocer. "What should we do about him?" asked Chris.

Matt walked up to the grocer, readying his mind wipe gauntlet before performing the cure...and using the gauntlet. "Hi, we finished your new open air style store," he said, manically.

"Ow, my back," groaned the grocer.

"Uh, yeah, those boxes are getting heavier," said Chris, "Probably should hire a stock boy."

"Yeah I...wait, why have you got guns?" said the grocer, looking at the gang's various 'tools of the trade'.

Matt and Chris glanced at each other before shrugging. "Just take the rest of the day off," said Matt before using the gauntlet again.

"Yeah...day off," said the grocer in a distant voice before staggering into the back room.

"Let's go before it wears off," said Matt before hearing Kala scream from outside.

The two of them ran out to see Kala was now in the grasp of Sideways. "So, Matt's got some new blood on his team," said Sideways, "It's about to stain the pavement."

"Put her down, Sideways!" yelled Matt as Kala, glaring began to slowly heat up Sideways' hand.

"And why should...what the?" said Sideways before noticing the smoke rising from his hand. "Ow, ow, ow!" he dropped Kala like a hot biscuit and ran over to where a fire hydrant was. He ripped it out and placed his hand in the resulting water spout.

"Didn't I mention? She really is hot." said Matt, evilly as Kala transformed to her half dragon form.

Sideways glared and said, "I might have known." He lowered his hand and angled it so the high-pressure water was sent towards the gang. Matt and Kala took off, avoiding the blast which unfortunately sent Chris shooting back into the store

Sideways took advantage of this distraction to pick up the catoblepas and run for it...at least he tried to. "Ugh, what has this thing been eating, cinderblocks?" asked Sideways as he struggled with the large bovine.

Matt, hovering in place in his half dragon form said, "I wouldn't point that end at yourself: the old saying about looking down a loaded gun." Sideways therefore naturally looked at the catoblepas's...rear end to see what the fuss was about. Luckily the shot missed and hit Manticrome on the far roof instead.

Getting a cow pie in the face was bad enough, getting a cow pie in the face at about 50 mph was even worse. Mantichrome gagged before ripping the dung off and yelling, "That's it! I'm through playing around with this! I thought we could handle this ourselves, but now I'm going to use that secret weapon."

Sideways however didn't seem to have heard, staring in a mix of fascination and sheer horror at the fact that the creature he was trying to steep had supersonic poo. "That's...disgusting," he managed.

"I think that opinion's pretty universal," said Matt, "Still, as disgusting as that is, I can't let you have it."

With that, he and Kala began a swooping run to attack only to stop as Sideways span the catoblepas and yelled, "THIS COW'S LOADED! Did I really say that?"

Matt and Kala screeched to a halt in midair. "Easy there, let's not do anything we'll regret," said Kala.

"Or will require a two hour shower afterwards," said Matt.

"Get back, you've seen what this cow can do," snapped Sideways, his sanity subroutines seeming to have temporarily crashed.

"Just calm down, you're really on edge," said Matt, though behind his back, he was sending a signal through his comm. to the other team members.

...

Luckily for the gang, Matt had for once obeyed protocol and a backup squad, led by Xander and to the splitter's displeasure, McNeil were not far behind and could hear everything Matt was saying...as well as getting a fix. "Sideways...trouble," said Xander coldly.

McNeil, who was still trying to wash off the marker mustache, was even less tolerant of Matt than usual. "Surely Matt can handle a 14-foot robot by himself," he snapped.

"No, Sideways is a monster, a Nullspace traveller. He survived multiple detonations and even a spiderbot infestation," said Xander coldly, not looking away from the road.

"Right...next you'll be telling me he used to work for some dark god that wanted to eat the universe," said McNeil.

"He certainly has the power evident. Isodine anti tank rounds did not even phase him. I hope your...anti-magi division has better," said Xander, not hiding the content that showed his contempt at McNeil's 'Antarctica' operation.

"The anti-magi division was engineered to deal with enemies of a magi-based nature," said McNeil, coldly, "He's a robot, that's basically the opposite, isn't it?"

"And yet, when we visited, you provided little aid," said Xander, icily, swerving the truck around a row of taxis.

As the truck drew nearer to Matt's coordinates, they could hear someone saying, "Enough stalling, surrender now or...wait, why are you really stalling?"

"Typical...all units...get that damn yak...if anyone tries to stop you...blast them." sighed McNiel, before saying the last part into his comm as they turned the last corner.

However, Mantichrome was waiting for them, holding a cat carrier. "I might have known that Lynch would call for backup," said Mantichrome, "But I have backup of my own." With that, he opened up the carrier and pulled something out.

McNeil leaned forward and said, "What is that, a chick-" A bright flash of red cut him off.

Xander was shaken as the truck swerved before he looked to the side to see a granite version of McNeil. "Dammit," he swore, swerving the truck.

Mantichrome saw too late what was happening and managed to whimper "Why?" before the swerving truck sandwiched him against a wall, the cat carrier dropping from his grip.

...

"Uh...I'm sure if we wait a few more seconds, we can reach some kind of agreement," said Matt, wondering what was taking the others so long.

The sound of weapon fire began to be heard. Unfortunately it was coming from the wrong side and not, as Matt had hoped from the end of the alley. "The only thing I want is to put you out of my misery...permanently," said Sideways, readying his blaster.

"Now wait just a minute," said Matt before they all heard the sound of clucking.

Kala looked down and asked, "Where did that chicken come from?"

Sideways smirked. "Why don't you check?" he said.

Kala shrugged before gliding down towards the 'chicken'. However, as she got closer, she noticed there were quite a few things wrong with it. For starters, though it was clearly a rooster, it had a snake's tail instead of tail feathers. There were horn-like growths around its comb and a neck frill that looked more like it belong to a lizard.

Matt gulped at that. "DON'T LOOK AT...ah crud," he yelled, groaning as red beams shot out of the cockatrices eyes and hit Kala dead center. When the light faded, Kala had been turned to stone.

"At least she chose a nice pose," said Sideways mockingly. The sound of jet wings was heard before Strapwing swooped down and picked up Kala's statue. "Anyone care to do a jigsaw puzzle?" asked the gargoyle bot.

A second later, a plasma burst knocked him into a satellite dish. "Put yourself together first!" snapped Matt, landing in front of Kala. The cockatrice apparently didn't like Matt getting too close to it. It raised up its neck frill and hissed at him. However, Matt knew better than to look at it. "Knock it off, you mangy turkey," snapped Matt.

Matt reached out and grabbed the cockatrice by its neck. "Turn her back or I squeeze," he said, his hand over his eyes. The cockatrice hissed before Matt something wet hit his hand. He didn't think too much of it until his fingers started to burn. "Ok...that's an ow," said Matt before screaming and flailing his arm like a hyperactive flag signaler.

The cockatrice shimmied its way out of Matt's grip before running off. "Pity, I would have prefered him as limestone," said Sideways pointing his blaster at Matt.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder as a familiar voice said, "Hey, how about ya pick on someone ya own size?" Sideways barely had time to turn around before Dune Runner punched him in the face.

Matt yelped and managed to keep Kala balanced as Sideways landed with a deafening crash. Sideways glared up at Dune Runner and said, "I was hoping I'd get a piece of you," before kicking Dune Runner's legs and making him crash.

Matt was forced to dive forward again to make sure Kala didn't tip over. "When I get my hands on the cockatrice," he muttered.

Speaking of which, Matt spotted the little monster darting away, apparently spooked by the crashing of the two robots fighting.

"Get back here, you little pain in the ass," snarled Matt, diving forward and only just missing.

Just then, Dune Runner walked over and placed the catoblepas next to Matt. "Ya mind watchin' this, he's gettin' in the way," said Dune Runner before going back to brawling with Sideways.

Matt sighed as Dune Runner went back to the fight before looking at the catoblepas. "I hate you, you know that, right?" he said to it, getting a 'huff' in return.

The cockatrice was running towards an alley before a blow from Sideways caused Dune Runner to land in front of that alley. The cockatrice promptly turned around and ran back. It stopped when it spotted the catoblepas and lifted its frill with a hiss. The catoblepas gave a low that indicated it didn't like the cockatrice either.

Matt stared between the two before slowing inching aside. The posturing between the two creatures seemed to get angrier, the cockatrice screeching and hissing while the catoblepas stomped and bellowed. Then the catoblepas flipped its mane up to glare at the cockatrice. The cockatrice returned the glare with equal vigor. Matt could actually see the red beams from the cockatrice's eyes clashing with the force in the catoblepas's stare.

Matt finally yelled, "OK...BOTH OF YOU...STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" putting a little dragon roar into it.

The two magical creatures ignored Matt and continued glaring at each other. However, the longer they glared, the more the air between them trembled with built-up energy. Matt glared and tossed a plasma ball between them. "I SAID STOP IT!"

Not even the plasma ball phased the two of them, but it seemed to have set off something as the air between was now cracking with red energy and Matt could feel the intensity of the magic rising quickly to critical mass. "Uh oh, time to run!" yelped Matt, looking around and pushing a dumpster in front of Kala before ducking behind it

Dune Runner and Sideways continued exchanging blows until a high-pitched whining caught their audio receptors. They glanced to the side to see the cockatrice and catoblepas nearly hidden the field of red energy between them. "What the-" they started before the field ruptured and a shockwave of red light was sent in all directions.

After a minute, Matt stuck his head over the top of the dumpster and looked around. "I'm alive," he said happily.

A groan caught Matt's attention and he turned around to see Kala was flesh again. "Matt? What happened?" asked Kala.

"You got petrified," said Matt simply, looking around for any sign of the catoblepas or the cockatrice through the red smoke the blast had caused. After a bit, the smoke cleared enough for Matt to see the two of them right where they were, only they had a stunned look on their faces. He walked over and poked the catoblepas, only for it to fall stiffly over. ""Hmm...nice," he said, looking over to see the cockatrice wearing a bug-eyed expression. "Out cold," he said, picking the cockatrice up by the tail.

Some grunting caught Matt's attention and he looked up to see Dune Runner and Sideways stuck in position. "Stasis...lock..." said Sideways.

"Can't...move..." said Dune Runner.

Matt was enjoying the show so much that he didn't see the blast of orange electricity until it hit him in the back. As Matt fell temporarily stunned, Mantichrome hobbled over. "This mission's a complete failure," he snapped, "Let's just retreat now while we have most of our pieces."

"Where were you?" snapped Sideways, still struggling to move.

"Never mind, we're leaving," said Mantichrome. A burst of viral injury forced Sideways's body into vehicle mode. Mantichrome crawled onto the motortrike and started driving away. A battered Strapwing soon followed.

Matt got up unsteadily to see them going minus the catoblepas, whose head had unthawed, though the rest was trapped. "You had better be worth it," said Matt darkly.

Techo had peered out and said "I wouldn't celebrate yet."

The gang peered out to see Xander stuck in the driver's cab of a NSC transport...the reason, half a dozen trooper statues clustered round the trucks doors being the reason for him not having aided. "Some help would be welcomed," he called

Kala looked to Matt and asked, "So, how do we break the spell?"

"Uh...let's call Lao Shi," said Matt.

...

To say Ghoulwyrm was displeased about Mantichrome's failure was rather an understatement. "IMBECILES!" roared Ghoulwyrm, purple flames arching up around his cauldron, "I AM SURROUNDED BY BLITHERING IDIOTS!"

Mecha Red, who was repaired stood behind Ghoulwyrm. "I warned you not to use...freelancers. As it is, these idiots have dithered and blundered," he said sagely.

Ghoulwyrm turned on Red and said, "Don't give me that bull, especially since you let the bull slip through your claws."

"I was not...informed of its special qualities," said Mecha Red, referring to his...damaging experience.

Ghoulwyrm snarled and said, "I swear, no one bothers to look through a bestiary this days. I'd get better accomplishments from hobgoblins!"

"The catoblepas does not exist on my homeworld. I had not heard of it until you purchased it," said Mecha Red pointedly before looking at Mantichrome and Sideways, "Now, about these fools, your orders?"

"Send them back wherever Mantichrome's been 'researching', some assembly required," said Ghoulwyrm, "I've had enough of robots skulking around here."

Sideways glared at that. "Now hold the spark o-" he began before Mecha Red opened a null portal at his and Manichrome's feet, causing them to fall through.

"I do have some good news...regarding Mr. Lynch. I intercepted some...fascinating transmissions regarding him. You will be interested to know that he is awaiting a dragon tribunal," Mecha said.

Ghoulwyrm gave him an annoyed look. "Is that all? I knew about Matt getting on the wrong side of the law for a few weeks now. Why do you think I came to this city in the first place?"

"More precisely, several contracts have been transmitted to known freelancers...on a NSC frequency. Somebody wants him dead before the tribunal. 300 Million credits," said Mecha Red.

Ghoulwyrm's eyebrows raised. "I know a lot of people wish Matt dead, but I didn't think anyone could shell out that kind of gold," he said.

"Nor use the same frequency as that facility we came across during the...Zodiac incident. Where you met that reptilian mongrel, Drago," said Mecha Red, saying the name of the demon sorcerer with distain.

"Yes, I remember that..." said Ghoulwyrm with a bitter tone, "It would seem there was more going on there than I knew of."

"Yes, it seems whoever owned that facility wishes ill of Master Lynch. I respectfully suggest that we aid him on his journey to the next existence," said Mecha Red with a cruel smile.

"When the next opportunity arises," agreed Ghoulwyrm, "But first thing's first. We'll have to cultivate as many cockatrices as we can from the dune we've managed to collect. With the catoblepas gone, we'll only get a squadron instead of an army."

"I still think this is a bad idea. The cockatrices back on Avalar were a big enough threat that we aided the apes in their eradication. Some things should not be meddled with," said Mecha Red.

"The cockatrices on your world were threats because they had some sentience," said Ghoulwyrm, "These cockatrices are barely smarter than the fowls they resemble. They're living weapons more than anything."

"Be smart then...and hope you are correct. Living weapons have a nasty habit of turning on their owners," said Mecha Red wisely

"Anyways, the cockatrices are but a small part of the master plan," said Ghoulwyrm, "There'll be more to do, but I'll need to heal up before that."

"Yes, your body should be repaired by the next full moon," said Mecha Redm waving a paw dismissively.

"Excellent, I've been stewing here for too long. It'll take weeks for the scent to fade," grumbled Ghoulwyrm. Mecha Red nodded and walked out, leaving Ghoulwyrm with his thoughts.

* * *

Finally, another chapter up. I've been distracted with other stories so I haven't been as rapid with this one. But now I've finally got things organized enough that I'll be able to finish this story within this week, so check back every day.

As for this story, we see a couple of robots from a few stories ago, namely Mantichrome, Sideways, and Strapwing. The cockatrice is obviously from classic mythology as well as the catoblepas. Though I did take a few liberties with it, namely adding the, ahem, express expulsion system from the bonnacon. I also added the dung being a part of producing cockatrices because otherwise it would seem too easy to mass produce cockatrices.

Anyhow, this story is going to be updated daily for the next week so watch for the new chapters and please review.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Jailbreaks are hardly an uncommon thing for villains. However, when villains escape from particularly advanced prisons while they have a debilitating condition, people tend to take issue.

"Ok...how in hell does a dragon so far past her prime that you need to carbon date her, slip out of our Headquarters?" snapped Leyton.

"Well, the Avimetrus's draining effect was temporary, so she wasn't that ancient," said Chip.

"I DON'T CARE! FIND HER OR YOU'RE ON LATRINE CLEANING DETAIL FOR THE REST OF YOUR STAY!" yelled Leyton.

That prompted everyone to run out of the room, leaving only Morph. "What's so bad about cleaning lanterns?" asked Morph.

...

"Ok, that was close. Now, how DID she get out?" complained Matt after they were a safe distance away.

"I'm not sure, she didn't seem in good condition for escaping," said Kala.

"We've already established that she's back to her normal age," said Chip.

"Not that, I meant she had a cold," said Kala, "She was sneezing up a storm last I checked on her."

"Dragon flu, that mail pixie thing delivered a note about it," said Chloe, holding up the letter.

"Yep, this is the right season for it," said Draco, "As bad as the regular flu, but it also clogs up your flame sacs with mucus. Which heightens the mystery as to how Chang was able to escape."

"And why she left this cheese sandwich," said Morph, holding up said sandwich.

"Mmm...sandwich," said Matt, taking the sandwich before seeing their looks, "What? I missed lunch."

"Wait a minute, why would Chang have a cheese sandwich?" asked Kala, "Everyone knows cheese makes you produce more mucus."

"Who cares, it's mine now," said Matt before taking a bite out of it. However, as soon as he swallowed, he suddenly shrank down into a mouse. "God, I hate that witch," Matt said.

"Ah, the old 'turn-into-a-mouse-and-escape-through-a-small-hole ' trick," said Draco, "That's an old one."

"Cure...NOW!" snapped Matt

"It wears off in 10 minutes, more than enough time for Chang to get into the sewers and be long gone," said Draco.

"Huh...why can't we say that she shot her way out? This will be too embarrassing," said Matt gloomily.

"Well, there if she had, there would have been a large blast hole and that CPS would have-" A sudden snap cut of Chip, followed by furious squeaking. Everyone turned to look at Draco, who had a thrashing mouse's tail sticking out of one of his mouths.

"Nice catch, Draco...so tempted to tell you to swallow," said Matt evilly.

"Er, if that were Chang, wouldn't she yelling at us to let her go?" asked Chip.

"Don't bother, Matt's gone kooky...again," sighed Chloe.

Matt, who was giggling faintly was trying to climb on Draco's head. Techo said, "Hey, look on the bright side: maybe we'll get lucky and Ghoulwyrm'll catch the dragon lurgy too."

"Of course, our luck could go the other way and Matt may trigger Draco's predatory instinct," said Chip.

"Come again?" asked Kala.

Matt had also stopped at that, Chip's comment being extremely sobering. "Oh no," he said, hearing a growl. Draco tossed his head back, causing Matt to go up in the air before he started falling towards Draco's open mouth. Luckily, Matt's nanites had been working to reverse whatever potion or spell Chang had cooked up and it was that moment that they cured Matt. The bad news was, that they cured Matt, resulting in his head landing in Draco's mouth.

"Hmm, right in the plasma mouth," said Chloe with amusement as Draco and Matt struggled to remove each other.

"Chang can wait a little longer," said Chip.

...

Meanwhile, Omnirus and Mecha Red were keeping their distance from Ghoulwyrm in the same way that nature photographers keep away from lions: fascinating, but dangerous to one's health. "Are you sure he has it?" said Mecha Red curiously.

"I'm not going anywhere near him to find out," said Omnirus, wearing a hospital mask, "If that flu is bad enough to affect him, I'm not taking any chance that it won't affect me."

"Of course it would affect him. He's dead, no immune system, " said Mecha Red before a black fireball was sneezed just over his head.

"Ah cab hear do ober dere," said Ghoulwyrm in a bunged up voice.

"Well, at least he doesn't need any more piecing together," said Mecha Red.

"Great, now I'll have to go extra lengths to avoid his germs," said Omnirus.

"Hey...shub ub before ah sneeze on yooo!" yelled Ghoulwyrm.

Omnirus and Mecha Red ducked as another fireball shot overhead. "Another advantage of this new body is that I cannot get sick like that," said Red.

"Goody-goody for you," grumbled Omnirus, "I'll probably have to quarantine my room to keep those germs out."

"You were a virus, were you not? EXP I believe," said Mecha Red smugly.

"Well I have my own body now and I've seen how a simple cold can affect aliens, I'm not eager to see what it'll do to hybrids like me," said Omnirus.

"I suppose...and I suppose we must see if our 'grand leader' needs a remedy," said Mecha Red gloomily, but not before taking a holo-image of Ghoulwyrm for his personal memory.

Omnirus and Red peeked over from their cover to look at Ghoulwyrm, whose sunken eyes were puffy and nostrils were constantly dribbling out purple mucus. "I dond hab tibe for a remedy," said Ghoulwyrm as he wiped his nose, "I'be delayed too long already. I hab to get dose last ingredients."

"Yes...did I mention that my scanners indicate the flu is attacking the spells that keep you from crossing over? One good slash and it's, to the humans 'Goodnight Vienna'," Mecha Red said.

Ghoulwyrm glared at Mecha Red and said, "I'be nut unfamiliar with colds ya know. Eben if dis one is ba...ba...BAAAAA...!" The other two quickly ducked as Ghoulwyrm let out another fireball sneeze.

Chang, newly arrived and just as sickly looking, said, "You should rest. I have known the flu to damage enchantments."

"Well, you should know...SINCE YOU GABE IT TA ME IN DA FIRST PLACE!" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "And ad such, you'll helbing ta get dose ingredients. One quick shob raid and den I'll rest."

"Fine...and if Lynch turns up and cuts your head off for the final time?" said Chang pointedly.

"Like he could eber finish me off," said Ghoulwyrm as he floated upwards weakly, "I'b going wheder you come or not." However, he couldn't float very far before he dropped onto the floor again. He snorted up more mucus and said, "Fine, I walk."

"I'll stay here...and ready what parts of the remedy can be done," Mecha-Red said.

...

Matt glared at Draco. "You tried to eat me," he said darkly.

"Hey, snakes and lizards eat mice and I've got some DNA from them," said Draco.

"It's mutiny when you attempt to eat your commanding officer," snapped Matt, pointing a finger at Draco

"It was instinct," said Draco, "You'd probably try to eat me if I was turned into a sheep."

"I don't even like mutton...as a human...hmm..." said Matt, grinning evilly, "We have some genetic mutation guns in lockup, we can test the theory."

Fortunately for Draco, an alarm began. "Alert...break in...sector 2, magi district...all free units, respond," said the bases PA.

"Guess we'll have to experiment later," said Matt before heading off.

"Note to self, destroy those mutation guns," muttered Draco.

...

Chang reached up and tore the alarm out the wall, easy to spot as the only modern tech around. "CPS'll be coming," warned Omnirus as she dug through a crate of bottles.

"Fine, I'b not in da mood ta fight," said Ghoulwyrm as he grab several packets of powder, "We tage what we need and go."

"And if CPS turns up? I'm not taking on an entire squad solo," said Omnirus

"We'll be log gone," said Ghoulwyrm before going to the storage room's door. He tried float through, but the door was proving a bit too thick. "Ah cob on already," said Ghoulwyrm as he tried to stick one arm through. He managed to get the first elbow through before his phasing power gave out.

Omnirus, despite everything chuckled and pulled a camera out. "Say idiot," she said, taking a photo.

Ghoulwyrm tore the door off its hinges and snapped, "Idiot!" before whacking Omnirus with it.

"Good work, stupid. Now you got a door for an arm," said Omnirus, ignoring the whack

"I can ged id oud," grumbled Ghoulwyrm, "Ib my cells will cooperade." He pulled at the door before eventually getting his arm free, minus a couple of bandages.

Omnirus just started laughing harder before the wall she was against glowed black and was torn off.

The wall was tossed aside, revealing Lady NegaMorph. "Huh, looks like someone has put themselves back together again," she said, "Guess I'll to tear you apart again."

"Oh bluck," swore Ghoulwyrm before looking to see Matt and Chloe.

"Hi Ghoulberk...you look half dead," taunted Matt, taking a slash.

"I'b not in da mood right now, Lynch," said Ghoulwyrm, "Can't a sick guy do some shopping widout assault?"

"Shoppers pay...and have pulses." retorted Matt, walking in.

"Well, most salesclerks wouldn't accept my money," said Ghoulwyrm before coughing loudly and shooting out specks of mucus that Matt backpedaled to avoid.

"Say it, don't spray it," said Matt.

"Erm...would you believe it's my acid mucuf ob deabth?" said Ghoulwyrm before coughing.

"No, but I don't want to touch it anyways," said Matt.

"Stay babk...Or ahh'll cough on joo," threatened Ghoulwyrm.

Matt, Chloe, and Megan backed away from Ghoulwyrm. "Huh, I can't believe that actually worked," said Omnirus.

However, Kala walked in and said, "Guys, what's taking so long with-" before Ghoulwyrm suddenly grabbed her. "Bedder yed, a hostage, to keep da tanks from rolling in," said Ghoulwyrm.

Matt sighed. "Wrong, Kala, do that trick I taught you," he called.

Ghoulwyrm said "Wab trick?" before looking down to see his bandages were smoking. "Hey, stop dat," said Ghoulwyrm, "I god bad sinus pro...pro...pro..."

Kala went bug-eyed and started trying harder to get loose to the point that she gave Ghoulwyrm a Megan kick. However, she was too late and Ghoulwyrm let out an almighty sneeze. However, his flames seemed to be off at the time, so Kala ended up just covered in purple slime, but it was clear which one she would have preferred.

"Earrrgh…" she moaned before snarling at Ghoulwyrm who said sheepishly, "Oobshie!" before his head was punched off.

"Ok, we're leabing," said Ghoulwyrm, "Chang, da pordal."

Chang's voice, coming from a communication gem said, "Hold on, this is hard enough to do without the dragon flu."

"Boy, I do not envy her," said Omnirus, looking at Kala, "But I better make sure they don't try to attack." She shot out several Diamondblast shards which quickly grew into a superhot wall separating the villains from the heroes. "Now, let's go. This shopping trip's over and done with," she said, pushing Ghoulwyrm towards the portal.

"Ridt, we god whad we want," said Ghoulwyrm.

"What about that goo you sneezed? That's not in the book about that flu," said Omnirus, looking at the flecks of purple goo.

"Id just mucus," said Ghoulwyrm, "Noding ta sneeze about."

"It's supposed to be green...and not glowing," said Omnirus before a crack appeared in her barrier, reminding her why she'd made it in the first place.

"Led dalk, more leabing!" snapped Ghoulwyrm. Omnirus nodded and kicked Ghoulwyrm into the portal, jumping in after him

Right after the portal close, a plasma blast broke through the fire crystal wall. Matt looked inside and said, "Smeg, they got away."

"Great...latrine duty ahoy," complained Techo, looking around and spotting the goo. "Yuk...what the hell?" he muttered.

"Ew…Ghoulwyrm snot," said Megan.

"You think that's disgusting? I'M COVERED IN IT!" snapped Kala.

"Is that stuff...dangerous?" asked Matt carefully.

"Considering where it came from, I wouldn't be that surprised," said Chloe.

"KALA'S COVERED IN KILLER SNOT?" screamed Matt in horror.

"Will you calm down, I'm trying to focus," said Megan as her hair tentacles waved over the purple slime. After a bit, she said, "Well, as far as I can tell...this is just plain mucus."

It was Kala's turn to scream now. "I'M COVERED IN ZOMBIE SNOT...EWEWEWEWEW!" she screamed, running towards the shop's restroom.

"She's gonna need to change clothes when we get back," said Chloe.

"She'll need to burn those clothes when she gets back," said Chris.

Matt twitched a bit as his visual imagination kicked in and keeled over with a nosebleed.

Chloe rolled her eyes and muttered, "Boys..."

...

Half an hour later and Kala had, after two normal showers, had commandeered the decontamination shower in the research center and was on her third shower.

"You'd think she'd be finished after the second shower," said Chloe.

"If you were covered in boogers, wouldn't you want a thorough scrubbing?" asked Megan.

"I wouldn't be complaining this mu-" she began before Megan said "OH NO, THERE'S A HUGE GLOB IN YOUR HAIR!"

Chloe screamed and frantically batted at her hair. When she found no glob, she glared at Megan and said, "Very funny, I hope you get a bat stuck in your hair."

"You mean this hair?" asked Megan, briefly turning her hair into tentacles again.

"Showoff," muttered Chloe.

Just then, the health monitor on the wall next to the decon shower beeped and said, "Warning, virus detected."

Megan looked annoyed and said, "It's always saying that when I'm near. When are they gonna fix that?"

"Class 4 virus detected in Decon Shower 4. Decon teams to yellow alert," said the computer again before Chloe slapped it.

Just then, the two of them heard some frantic groaning and they looked down to see Morph who was bent over and twitching. "When is Kala getting out of there already?" asked Morph, sounding very uncomfortable.

"Morph? I thought you didn't get sick?" Chloe said in concern.

"Sick? I just really need to use the potty and Kala's hogging the restroom," said Morph.

"That's not a restroom," snapped Chloe.

Morph paused and asked, "It's not?"

"No, the decon shower doesn't have a toilet," said Megan, "There's a restroom down the hall on your left."

"Oh, thanks," said Morph before quickly running off.

Kala could be heard knocking on the door. "Can someone open this? The computer's locked it," she could be heard saying.

Chloe sighed before typing in the override code. The decon shower opened with a hiss and Kala's hand reached along the wall until it grabbed a waiting bathrobe.

Megan said, "Erm...are you finished in there?"

"Yeah, I think it's all gone," said Kala, walking out in the bathrobe, "That snot got just about everywhere. I almost rubbed my skin raw. Now I'll take a fine-toothed comb and..." She suddenly paused before letting out a small sneeze.

"Hey...you ok?" asked Chloe.

"Yeah, just a little..." said Kala before suddenly sneezing three times, a bit of flame coming out with each one.

"Yow...ok, I think the computer was onto something. You're coming to sickbay," said Chloe sternly

"Chloe, it's not...not...not..." Chloe and Kala dived out the way as a large fireball shot out with the last sneeze.

"Yes...sickbay...NOW!" snapped Chloe.

Kala gave a loud snort before saying a little hoarsely, "Okay..."

...

The medibot shone a light into Kala's mouth before finally proclaiming, "Dragon flu...or an offshoot...basically a cold. Bedrest for her."

Kala coughed and said, "Great, now I'll be spending the next couple of days coughing up phlegm."

"Indeed, though I would like you to remain here. This strain is giving off unusual readings and I would like to take some phlegm samples," said the medibot.

"If you can get any..." started Kala before sneezing out another fireball.

The medibot shot out a collector, catching some form of blackened gunk and saying, "That will do."

Kala grabbed a tissue to blow her nose, but ended up incinerating it. "Do not worry, the cold will eventually neutralize your firepower when the mucus clogs your..."

"Ok, we get the point!" snapped Kala.

"I still you should stay here. I am detecting several anomalies in your nanot-" began the medibot before Kala and the others left. "And people wonder why droids don't like organics," it muttered before going over to look at the samples more.

...

Not long after that, Kala decided to stay in her quarters. Partially it's because she didn't feel too well, but mostly because it had asbestos walls.

"Ow...stupid draco-flu," she said to herself, getting up to get a drink. She grabbed a small bottle and popped off its glass stopper. She probably would have recognized the smell, but her nose was too stuffed.

A second later, the door to her quarters was blown off its runner by the resulting kr'ta fireball and Kala ran out in the direction of the nearest water fountain...and burn salve.

She zoomed right back Matt who was on his way to see her. As soon as he stopped spinning, Matt commented, "She couldn't be feeling that sick if she can move like that."

She stopped briefly and yelled "DON'T LEAVE YOUR KR'TA IN UNMARKED BOTTLES...AAARRRGH!" before running onwards, a trail of smoke following her.

Matt picked up her dropped bottle and whistled in impressment as the bottle was empty. "If that doesn't knock the cold out of her, I don't know what will," said Matt.

...

Kala gulped down her third glass of orange juice in the canteen. With a sigh, she put the glass down and said, "Well, at least cleared my...my...AH-CHOO!" Another fireball shot out, seering the wall. "Never mind," she groaned. She shivered and said, "Brr...it's getting cold. I could use some sunlight."

A trooper at another table said, "I wouldn't, looks like rain. Say, you look real pale...and I like the contacts."

"What contacts?" asked Kala, "I don't need contacts."

"Yeah...I can see that," joked the trooper before turning back to his breakfast.

Kala looked around for a reflective surface, but could find anything clear enough. "I'll be in my room," she muttered.

...

Kala staggered into her room, her head throbbing like crazy before managing to make it to a mirror. "EEP!" she yelped, seeing the purple tint her eyes had got. "Oh, you are not getting out again, you little pain," she muttered, thinking of Kai.

Just then, she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said, rubbing her eyes a bit.

The door opened and Jake's grandpa walked in, carrying a tupperware bowl. "I have heard you are not feeling well, young dragon," said Lao Shi, "I brought something will make you feel much better."

Kala looked suspiciously at the bowl, having learnt enough that it was always a good idea to ask what was in a magical potion first. "What's that?" she said suspiciously.

"Oh, just some Aiyo Wo Di Bizi chicken soup, just like mother used to make when I had the dragon flu," said Lao Shi.

Kala lift an eyebrow and said, "Aiyo Wo Di Bizi? What does that mean?"

Lao Shi lifted the lid and said, "Have a sniff."

Kala leaned forward, took a sniff and went bug eyed as her nose, to her, caught fire. "Ouch, my nose!" yelped Kala, pulling away from the bowl.

"Or as we say in China, aiyo wo di bizi," said Lao Shi.

Kala waved a hand while massaging her nose with the other. "Thank you but I think...I'll pass," she said in a nasal voice.

"Well, I'll leave some in case you change your mind," said Lao Shi, "It's very good for a cold...also for repelling mosquitos."

"Do they burst into flames when they go over the bowl?" Kala said sarcastically, derping as Lao Shi said "Exactly so."

"I hope you will get well soon, the dragon flu is no pleasant sickness," said Lao Shi before leaving.

Kala sniffed and said, "You're telling me."

…

A few hours later and Matt was sneaking towards Kala's room with a proper drink of water. "Oh...Kaaaala...I got a non-corrosive drink for yooooou," he said.

He didn't hear a response but when he put his ear to the door, he heard the sound of slightly-congested snoring. "Kala? You ok?" Matt asked, slowly opening the door and seeing the bed in the darkened room, empty. "Kala?" Matt asked confused, hearing her breathing but not seeing her.

"Ok, this getting a little weird," muttered Matt before hitting the light switch. It got a whole lot weirder when he spotted Kala. She was fast asleep, but wasn't lying on anything but open air. "Erm...Kala?" he said in a puzzled voice before activating his emergency sound beacon.

Kala woke up with a yelp before dropping out of the air and onto the floor. "Ow...you had better have a good reason for dropping me," groaned Kala.

Matt said "Does floating count?" before stopping and saying "When did your eyes glow purple?"

"Oh no, I haven't been acting like Kai, have I?" asked Kala.

"Kai doesn't float, I think," said Matt, waving a hand between the bed and the ceiling just in case and then adding, "Plus Shar Khan others have red eyes."

Just then, Morph walked in. "Hey Kala, you feeling better yet?" he asked.

Kala said weakly, "Not really...I've been...floating."

Morph nodded, "Oh...light headed?" Kala was about to respond when she started coughing and hacking. "Watch out, loogie!" called Morph before going behind Matt.

Matt looked around before raising a plasma shield in desperation. Kala gagged before spitting out a purple fireball, which fortunately went out when it hit the shield. "That's...not usual," said Matt, weakly, looking at the purple gunk that the fireball had left behind as it slipped down the shield. "Ok, medibay, dear, right now," he added.

...

The medibot was scanning over Kala again. "Yes, those unusual energy readings are even stronger now," said the medibot, "I warned her to stay in here, but does anyone listen to the professionally designated and designed doctor?"

Kala snapped, "What's wrong with me, you floating basketball?" before she stopped and shuddered. "Was that me?" she whimpered.

"You know what you really need? A big dose of sunshine," said Morph before morphing into Sunny and shining his light into Kala's face.

Kala yelped and covered her eyes with a shriek. "Stop it, stop it!" she yelled, a sizzling heard from her exposed skin until Matt punted Morph into the waste chute.

"Wait a minute, purple eyes, purple fireballs, levitating, oversensitive reaction to sunlight, does that remind anyone of anyone?" asked Megan.

"No...no, no, no," said Matt, as his brain made the connection and ran into Matt's finely tuned sense of denial.

"Well, that would explain the strange look of the flu viruses I have managed to isolate," said the medibot.

"What do they look like?" asked Kala.

The medibot said, "Tiny little Ghoulwyrms." The medibot flashed a projection onto the wall. They could clearly see a picture of several cells, only these cells had pale grey cytoplasm, purple nuclei with black vein-like stripes around them, and black and white striped flagellums.

"Oh...Ghoulwyrm blobs...nasty," said Matt weakly.

"Ok, I can understand Ghoulwyrm giving Kala his cold, but his other features?" said Megan.

"It's quite simple," said the medibot, "Rhinoviruses, the type that most commonly carries colds and flus, are among the most adaptable microbes known. Considering Ghoulwyrm's unique physiology, any strain of rhinovirus that manages to make him sick will surely have other effects on other organisms."

"Wh...I'M GONNA TURN INTO GHOULWYRM?" screamed Kala, pulling the bot's eyestalk close to her manic gaze.

"Not necessarily," said the medibot, "The virus would have to be more extensively tailored. But you are certainly more like to develop more of his characteristics."

"Like WHAT?" snapped Kala, angrily.

"His bad temper, obviously," said Megan.

Kala turned, her eyes solid purple. "What was that?" she said in an echoing voice.

"Nothing," said Megan quickly. "Well, the virus seems to lean heavily towards Ghoulwyrm's Ectonurite side, so we're much more likely to see symptoms related to that," said the medidoc.

"Oh, like I'm really looking forward to that," said Kala before suddenly disappearing.

"Erm...Kala?" said Matt nervously before Kala said by him "I'm here."

"Oh, I guess invisibility's one of the symptoms," said Matt, reaching around for her.

"Hey!" Matt felt someone slap his face. "Watch where you're putting those."

"It would help if I could SEE YOU!" snapped Matt.

"Hang on, let me try something," said Kala. A few seconds later, she was visible again, but her skin was even paler than before, not to mention dark circles were around her eyes.

"Kala, I hope that's just caused by you being sleepy," said Matt, weakly.

"Well, I do feel pretty tired..." said Kala before tottering over.

Matt ran forward and grabbed her as she slumped over his shoulder. "Easy...let's get you back to your room," he said.

"Well, at least Kala's the only sick with this, right?" said Megan.

"Alert...unidentified virus in atmosphere...multiple exposures detected...preparing lockdown," said the computer.

Morph popped out of the wastecan and asked, "What was that?"

"Alert...virus saturation at 25%. All non-infected proceed to safe rooms...defenses will activate to prevent entry in...2 minutes," said the computer

"Um, Matt, maybe we should leave," said Megan.

"There is an 80% chance that you could be carrying the virus," said the medibot, "You could spread it even further."

"Then how comes I haven't been sick when I've been around Kala so long?" retorted Megan.

"Your DNA is in constant flux. Hmm...Mr. Lynch should be safe, he's been mutated so often, he's lucky he wakes up with the right number of limbs in the morning," said the medibot.

"Hey!" snapped Matt.

"I know I'm safe," said Morph, "I never get mutated."

"Is there a cure?" snapped Matt.

The medibot said calmly, "Here..." passing a vial of nanites and adding, "It simply needs tissue from the patient zero."

"Oh, great, shouldn't be too hard to track him," said Matt sarcastically.

"I advise you leave before lockdown," said the medibot before there was a 'shing' noise and it fell in half.

The gang turned to look at Kala who was now looking decidedly worse. Most notably were the black streaks around her eyes, her teeth sharpened into fangs, black and white tentacles popping out on parts of her body, and her fingers turned into big purple claws. "Lyy...nch…" she managed before her eyes turned to a pair of familiar ones.

"Oh...shit." said Matt weakly.

"AAAAHHH! KALA'S A ZOMBIE!" screamed Morph.

"YOOOU...WILL...BE...UUUUS!" hissed Kala.

"No thank you," said Matt panicky, tossing a tray at Kala as an alarm began to ring. "Oh, not this again," said Matt before picking up Morph and running out the medibay, Megan close behind him.

He ran down the tunnel with Megan in pursuit before running into Chloe. "What's going on? Techo went nuts!" she snapped.

"Less talk, more runny!" yelled Matt, dragging her as the main alert began.

However, as they were running, they could hear the groaning that one would normally associate with zombies. "This is not gonna look good on my CV," moaned Matt as they turned the corner, Matt running into...and through NegaMorph, to both their disgust.

"Geeze, Lynch, a little warning next time?" griped NegaMorph.

"IT'S IN MY MOUTH!" screamed Matt, spitting

"Hey, at least I'm not carrying a zombie virus," said NegaMorph.

"Let's just go!" yelled Chloe, opening the lift to the surface...and just in time as Kala, with several half mutated troopers walked into view. "You will be uuuussss…" she hissed creepily.

"Ok, this is really shifting into nightmare fuel, "said Megan.

"GETINTHELIFT!" screamed Matt, grabbing her and pulling her in as the lift closed.

The lift quickly pulled up before the 'zombies' could get to them. "Phew, that was close," said Matt.

"Uh, they won't be as good as ghosting as Ghoulwyrm, right?" asked Megan.

"No, anti-phasing shields all over the base, no way out," said Matt.

"So we just need to get out of here and find Ghoulwyrm," said Megan.

NegaMorph looked around. "We forgot anyone?" he said, before his comm beeped. "Hello? Zombies'r'us," he said, sarcastically.

"Where the smeg are you guys?!" yelled Chip's voice, "Everybody's a zombie, including Draco and Contrinus! They tried to shell me like a peanut!"

"Erm...please hold," said NegaMorph before calling, "Matt, it's for you."

Matt activated his comm and asked, "Hello?"

"Matt, get me out of here before they find me again!" yelled Chip.

"Where are you?" said Matt.

"Security center with Leyton and what's left of CPS...Yes I'm telling him...Leyton says you get off your arse and fix this as this stuff is usually your fault," said Chip.

"I'm working on it as we speak," said Matt, "Don't think we'll be able to swing by the security center, but I do have an important job for you guys: make sure the zombies don't leave the building. You know what happens when zombies are loose in the streets."

"MAATT!" screamed Chip before Matt turned the comm off.

"Was that Leyton?" asked Chloe.

"No, that was Chip, but I'm sure he'll pass the word on," said Matt.

"Well, Chip should be safe..." started Chloe before suddenly sneezing.

"Wow," said Matt, everyone jumping back before Matt gave her a scan. "Just normal flu...phew, that was close," he said.

"Oh, sure, like a flu is supposed...AH-CHOO!" Chloe sneezed again, this time causing a lightning bolt to shoot out and hit the side of the lift.

"Yeah..." said Matt, calmly, giving her an adrenaline shot to dampen the symptoms. "Most sneezes don't cause property damage," he said.

"Just be glad she didn't short out the lift," said Morph.

"Silence, Morph," said Matt, annoyed before everyone jumped as a clunk was heard from the roof. Everyone jumped and looked up. When nothing came down, Matt muttered, "Must have been a snag in the cable or something."

...

On the roof of the lift, two particularly sickly-looking experiments were doing some minor squabbling. "Why'd you have to land so loudly, you nearly gave us away," snapped Contrinus before coughing.

"Why did the mistress send...urgh...I mean Kala, send us...NO I WILL NOT SAY THAT STUPID LINE!" said Draco, snapping the last bit at a voice only they could hear.

One of Contrinus's tentacles wrapped around Draco's snout and she snapped, "Will you be quiet? We're supposed to catch them off guard."

Draco made a motion that meant "Why us?"

"Because we can strike hard and fast," said Contrinus, ignoring how Kala had meant they were small enough to get in there.

"She called us shrimps," said Draco sulkily with one of his other breath mouths.

"Well this is the chance to show her we're not," said Contrinus.

Draco looked up before he noticed a fast approaching flaw in their plan. "Doesn't this lift stop flush against the top of the sha-?" he began before the duo were sandwiched between the lift and the roof of the shaft.

...

The lift doors opened as NegaMorph said, "Top floor, lobby, exit..." Another sneeze from Chloe zapped a nearby wall. "...and spare tissues," added NegaMorph.

Morph said, "Did anyone hear someone say 'please press down first'?"

Matt shrugged and said, "Well, finding Ghoulwyrm shouldn't be that hard. He's probably still sneezing skyrockets."

There was a small distant purple explosion from the warehouse district before something yelled "TARTARUS DAMMIT!"

Matt added, "Like that one for example."

"This is going to be easy," said Megan.

Morph said, "I'm sure I heard something then...someone saying 'Oh thank goodness'."

"Will you stop fooling around?" asked Chloe before blowing her nose, "Let's get that stupid cure already."

The gang headed over to the motor pool before Draco's voice was heard groaning "Are they gone? I almost feel sorry for Ghoulwyrm, going through this each time."

...

Meanwhile, Ghoulwyrm's flu was getting even worse. Not only was he constantly dribbling mucus and practically sneezing every two minutes on the mark, but he had a splitting headache from the legion mind that was forming.

Omnirus, Chang, who had downed some of the remedy she brewed and Mecha Red were at the far end of the warehouse (due to the atomic sneezes) playing cards when they heard him scream "PLEASE SHUT UP...!" and started bashing his own head with a piece of wood.

"Ten creds says his head'll explode in 10 minutes," said Omnirus, looking back to the cards and saying "Got any tens?"

"Ten whats?" asked Mecha Red.

Omnirus rolled her eyes and said, "For crying out loud, don't they play cards on Avalar? You ought to at least have a solitaire program in your head."

Mecha Red said "Ah yes...go fishing." causing Omnirus to say "It's 'Go Fish'."

Then another sneeze was heard and a hail of dust fell on them as Ghoulwyrm made a new door and screamed "MAKE IT STOP...UNCLE...UNCLLLLLE!"

"What's going with him, anyways?" asked Chang.

"It's his Ectonurite DNA. His flu got contaminated by it and so when he's making anyone sick, it forms more of a hive mind," said Omnirus, "And I don't think Ghoulwyrm knows how to handle all those connections."

"WHY HAS SHE GOT SUCH A CORNY LINE? WHO SAYS 'YOU WILL BE US' AS A LINE?" screamed Ghoulwyrm, now bashing his head on a concrete support.

"It's good for a laugh though, I'll give him that," laughed Omnirus.

"I bet he'll soon go as crazy as that mercenary," said Chang.

On cue, Ghoulwyrm went derp-eyed and started giggling, which quickly developed into an insane laugh Draconus would have been proud of. "Shut up," said Omnirus to the smug Chang before the perimeter sensors Mecha had set at the edge of the warehouse area, beeped. "Now what?" asked Omnirus.

"We have intruders," said Mecha Red.

"Let me guess..." said Omnirus darkly as she shifted to dragon form.

"The mercenaries, they're entering the complex," said Mecha Red calmly as his little sensor drone displayed a feed before he added, "Well...that's interesting. Apparently two corpses are following them.

"Corpses? How can that-"

"WILL YOU STOP YOUR INFERANL BICKERING, YOU TWO ARE AS BAD A MARRIED COUPLE!" yelled Ghoulwyrm. He looked at them before saying darkly, "I know who's following them. Two of the experiments. Please kill them as well, two less voices in my head...well? GET ON WITH IT OR I'LL SNEEZE ON YOU!"

Omnirus tsked and said, "It's sad when their minds begin to go." A second later, she had to duck to avoid a blob of phlegm that Ghoulwyrm sneezed at her. "OK, ok," she complained, walking out with the others.

...

Matt shone a light before shrugging and turning it out as another sneeze lit the warehouse district up with another blast. "Ok, let's all stay together. I've seen these zombie films. You walk off and you're doomed," Matt said.

"Ok then," said Morph before wrapping himself around Matt's leg.

"I didn't mean it like that," said Matt calmly, before getting an idea and removing some inhibitor nanites and loading them into his blaster.

"What are you doing?" asked Megan.

"Having a good idea," muttered Matt, looking around before shrugging and pocketing the blaster.

Chloe sighed, "That's a stupid idea, those are medical." before she heard a footstep, turned and pushed Matt aside as a purple fireball shot out.

"Ghoulwyrm must be feeling better," said NegaMorph.

A familiar voice snapped "OK...JUST THIS ONCE...jeeze...Yoooou willl beee uuuus...happy now?"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," said NegaMorph.

Draco and Contrinus, now with pale skin and tentacles came into view, Contrinus saying in a bored tone, "You will be us...blah blah blah."

"They don't seem to be as empty-headed as zombies are supposed to be," said Megan.

Draco glared before getting a glazed look at Chloe. "Your head looks so...tasty," he said in a dazed voice before lunging at her.

Contrinus rolled her eyes and said, "I can't believe you would go for that old stereotype. I mean, just because we're zombies doesn't mean we have to hunt for brains and-" Suddenly, she started pecking at NegaMorph's head.

Matt screamed before grabbing a trash can and bashing it on Contrinus. Contrinus squawked before taking off. She zoomed around in midair before diving towards Morph. Morph waved up at Contrinus and said, "Hi Contrinus."

"Who am I kidding?" muttered Contrinus before breaking off to go for Megan.

Matt, who was trying to drag Draco off the bite grip he had on Chloe's shoulder plate remembered his plan and pulled out his blaster, aiming at the circling Contrinus and firing a dart. Contrinus gave a squawk before falling like a nailed duck.

"Gotcha," he muttered before aiming at Draco and firing, though this time, the dart bounced off. "Oh, yeah. Bullet proof...AAAAH!" he said, screaming as Draco lunged at him. "BUT I HAVEN'T GOT BRAINS! CHLOE SAYS THAT ALL THE TIME!" he screamed, barely holding Draco back.

Suddenly, a bolt of purple energy hit Draco, freezing him in place. "Can't...move..." groaned Draco.

Megan lowered her arm and said, "Good thing I knew that immobilizing spell."

Matt pulled Draco off and shoved a dart vial in his mouth. "Swallow or never speak again," he said, threateningly. Draco growled before forcing the vial down his throat.

"Good boy," Matt said, patting Draco on the head before seeing the bite mark on Chloe's shoulder. "...and there will be words and pain later," he said coldly, causing the quickly sobering Draco to gulp as Contrinus landed.

"Any more zombie minions we have to worry about?" asked NegaMorph as he straightened out his hat.

Draco managed, "No...we were the only ones who made it out before lockdown finished." before seeing Chloe's bite, "This isn't Romero rules, is it?

"I don't recall the zombies in Lilo's movies ever arguing," said Contrinus.

"Good, now let's go steal Ghoulwyrm's spleen for the cure," said Matt. Chloe nodded, sneezing again and tazering Draco with suspicious accuracy before following.

However, as they continued forward, Megan paused and said, "Do you hear buzzing?"

"Oh no...not those things again. Bugs...UNDEAD ONES AT THAT!" snapped Matt, looking up.

"And I bet they're really hungry," said NegaMorph.

"Maybe they won't eat us if I offer them this soup Jake's grandpa left us," said Morph before producing the container and taking off the lid.

Matt immediately gagged as he got a whiff. "Smeg...it's the soup version of Kr'ta," he choked before a circling myosquito landed with a thud, out cold. The other myosquitos seemed to realize the danger this soup posed and started diving at Morph.

"Morph...DON'T YOU DARE DROP...oh, why do I bother?" said Chloe as a fired stinger from a new strain of myosquito hit Morph, making him swell up and pop.

The others began to land in a circle round the gang as Morph regenerated. "Fooood," hissed one.

"I didn't avoid being eaten by zombies to be eaten by bugs," said Megan as she morphed into her alien form.

Chloe immediately gripped her head as she got a splitting headache. "Chloe?" said Matt, horrified before a stinger hit him in the chest armor.

Chloe's head immediately shot up at that, her eyes draconic and purple and she said in an echoing voice "STOP!" Instantly, the myosquitos stopped right where they were in midair. Everyone stopped at that. "Erm...now sod off?" asked Chloe carefully. The bugs buzzed for a few seconds before turning around and flying off.

...

On a nearby roof, Omnirus was watching with her mouth hanging open. "If I hadn't just seen it, I wouldn't believe it," she said.

Mecha Red said, "Her DNA seems to be re-writing. Another variant of Mr. Ghoulwyrm's cold it seems." as Omnirus moaned "We were that close...not fair, not fair, not fair!" she said, snapping.

"We'll have to keep an eye on her," said Red, "She may have quite a few surprises in store."

Chang said, "What about Omnirus? She's doing a broken record impression." pointing to Omnirus who was repeating 'Not fair' over and over as the group below carried on.

"The same you do with any obstinate machine: whack it until it stops," said Mecha Red.

...

Matt looked at Chloe's bite. "Ok, you definitely caught something," he said, concerned.

"Considering what Draco eats, I hope it's not a parasite," said Chloe.

"Hey!" snapped Draco.

"My head stings," said Chloe, looking around.

"Would that be 'growing headache' sting or 'allergic reaction' sting?" asked Megan.

"Growing head-" began Chloe before there was a slapping noise and Omnirus sailed down to street level.

"Look, Chloe, it's the mix-match psycho who once tried to drain your brain," said NegaMorph.

Chloe turned angrily at that, her eyes glowing purple, as did her hands as she strode towards Omnirus. Omnirus spotted her coming through the eyes on her back and moaned, "Not fair..."

"Oh it's more then not fair, you little worm," hissed Chloe, picking Omnirus up by the neck

"Er, that's a nasty cold you've got," said Omnirus, "You better settle down before you lose your voice."

"Better than losing your throat," said Chloe in the same echo that Ghoulwyrm used when he was a small step from snapping.

"Uh, I know Omnirus is our enemy, but has she recently done anything to deserve this?" asked Megan.

"She took part of my mind," hissed Chloe, her eyes now solid purple.

"Er, the bad part of your mind, remember?" said Matt, "If it weren't for her, you'd still be General Silvia."

Chloe looked at Matt with a hiss before back at Omnirus who was sweating like crazy before she dropped Omnirus. "Get out of my sight," hissed Chloe.

"No problem," said Omnirus before turning invisible and apparently scampering.

"Chloe, that was certainly not you," Matt said cautiously

"How do you know that wasn't me?" snapped Chloe, "Do you think you really know all about me?"

"Of course I do, I'm your brother," said Matt sensibly.

"Chloe, your cold is making you really crabby," said Morph, "What you need is some hot soup. Good thing Jake's grandpa made extra. His upper body sank into himself as he rummaged around. "Now where did I put that? I thought it would be in plain sight. Hey, I was looking for that yo-yo."

"Morph...hurry up," said Matt, looking down at Chloe's shaking hands that were sprouting grey scales and claws.

"Aha, here it is, oh wait, it's gone cold," said Morph, popping back up with another container.

"MORPH!" screamed Matt as Chloe's spasm spread further up along with the mutating. "Chloe...GET A GRIP!" he yelled.

A hand with long purple claws grabbed NegaMorph by the neck. "Good grip," gasped NegaMorph before he was thrown into Matt.

Matt blasted NegaMorph off him on a vertical trajectory before sitting up. "CHLOE, BAD...mutating...sister," he said, finishing a bit lamely.

Chloe hissed as her arms seemed to swell up. Pretty soon, they burst through their sleeves as they became huge batlike wings. Matt gulped as the 'arm wings' melted back ,leaving her armor as a sleeveless version before two Avalarian dragon wings appeared, luckily through the slits in her back-armor that were there for such a purpose.

"Chloe, you really aren't well. Let me prove it," he said, firing the last dart in her neck. Chloe hissed and roared as she tried to grab the dart, but the claws she was sporting weren't quite so dexterous as her own hands.

After a second, she stopped and seemed to come to her senses, her mutation having stopped at what looked like a warped version of her 'half-way' form, albeit closer to the Ghoulwyrm Matt had once dropkicked into a blast furnace before he was dead. "Erm...Chloe?" he said carefully.

Chloe groaned and said, "I can feel Ghoulwyrm's presence in my head. The closer we are to him, the louder it gets...and he's really frustrated with the hive mind he can't communicate with."

"Yeah...at least your mutations have stopped," Matt said, looking at his wrist comp scanner that happily announced that the flu had finished the 'cosmetics'.

"Mirror...NOW!" snapped Chloe.

With a flash of purple light, a mirror attached to a three-legged stand appeared besides them. A voice yawned before saying, "What is it you want, you creep? You interrupted my beauty sleep." Chloe and Matt stared in horror as the mirror said, "Wait, you're not the usual creep. You're the creeps who cut my creep's head off."

"I didn't know Ghoulwyrm had a magic mirror," said Megan.

"I didn't know I could summon it," said Chloe weakly.

"Look babe, do I have to stay here all night?" said the mirror rudely

"Oh yeah, this is Ghoulwyrm's mirror alright," said Contrinus.

"Hey, let me try it out," said NegaMorph before standing in front of it, "Mirror, mirror, on the stand, who's the fairest in the land?"

"Not you, jerkface," said the mirror.

"Get lost!" Snapped Chloe, making the mirror vanish before she started sniffing and then crying loudly. "I DON'T WANNA BE A NECROMANCER!" she cried.

"There, there, it could be worse," said Morph, "At least you're still pretty...in a half-mutated way."

Chloe glared. "Shut up, Morph," she snapped.

Matt tried next with saying, "Hey, it's still you, just slightly bigger claws and a color scheme," noting her claws were now more like the dexterous ones of her anthro form.

"Yeah, we just need to get that cure from Ghoulwyrm's DNA and you'll be back to normal," said Megan.

Chloe hissed, "Good...let's go rip his ARM OFF!"

As they headed on, Draco asked, "So, why is it that Chloe's morphing into a wyvern and me and Contrinus are only breaking out in tentacles?"

"You don't have Atlantean nanotech running amok inside you," said Matt, following Chloe as she stomped along, her wings wrapped around her gargoyle style.

"Then how comes you aren't looking nocturnal?" asked Contrinus.

"How many times have I been warped or mutated since we met?" asked Matt calmly

"I've been trying to keep a record of that," said Morph, pulling out a notepad, "I'm still not certain how much that first Splicer incident counts."

"Double the amount and that's the total. My DNA's so warped I'm immune probably," said Matt, calmly.

"I wonder how your kids will look- OW!" yelped NegaMorph as Matt whacked the back of his head.

Chloe however was being followed by Megan. "Chloe, it's ok. It won't be that bad if its perma...ok," she said as Chloe turned to glare with purple eyes

"Won't be so bad? I'm a monster, a hideous monster," snapped Chloe.

"Chloe, you're not hideous, there are other people far uglier than you," said Megan, "Like Uncle NegaMorph for example."

"I heard that!" yelled NegaMorph.

"Plus, you haven't got the tentacles, you just look like a splitter," said Megan cheerfully.

"A splitter that has never been in the sun," grumbled Chloe.

"Some time in the tanning booth and you'll be fine. You're not undead so you're not a vamp. This must be what all his spells were supposed to do," said Megan thoughtfully.

"Which means if I croak, I'll end up just like him," said Chloe, looking doubly displeased by the thought.

"I doubt it. That would only happen if they were still applying themselves, these are done," said Megan

"I still rather have my own face," said Chloe.

"You look fine, you remind me a bit of Cynder," said Megan pleasantly.

"Yeah, Cynder is pretty good at fighting," said Chloe, sounding a bit more cheery.

"That's the spirit. Maybe I can give you some magic lessons too?" asked Megan before a laser blast landed at their feet.

"Well, girls, as touching as this little bonding is," said Mecha Red as he walked out of the shadow, "I must bring it to a mercifully short end." Chloe glared and got into a fighting chance with Megan as Mecha Red calmly fired at the building behind them burying the experiments and Matt. "And just for the record, you may look like a dragoness right now, but you're definitely the wrong type," said Red.

"You buried my brother, you tin can," said Chloe angrily, several flickers of purple flame round her mouth.

"I only wonder why no one has done it before," said Red.

Chloe's eyes suddenly turned to dark orbs as a new magical instinct kicked in and the echoing voice appeared again. "Let's disarm you then," she said, making a gesture that caused several connections to be torn out of Red's arms.

"What? How did you do that?" demanded Red.

"Practice makes perfect," hissed Chloe before making two downward chopping motions...that caused Mecha Red's arms to slice off.

"Hey! That's not proper combat form!" yelled Red.

"Whatever works. Now waddle out of here before I move onto your other limbs, tin can," hissed Chloe.

Red glared and said, "This is not how we would have fought in Avalar," before he hopped away. "Oookay, that was odd," said Megan. Chloe was shaking again, a similar 'eyeshadow' effect appearing round her eyes as what was seen on Ghoulwyrm. "Chloe, you feeling alright?" asked Megan.

With a sudden push, a piece of rubble moved aside as NegaMorph popped out. "Dropping a building, really? What does he think we are, cartoon characters?" he asked.

"Uurrgh...I'M FINE!" she said, yelling at NegaMorph, who was trying to pull the unconscious Matt out.

"I'm fine too," said Morph, popping up, "But Draco and Contrinus are out like a light. I guess zombies can't take hits as well as normal experiments."

Chloe ran over and effortlessly dragged Matt out. "I don't care about them. Matt, wake up this instant," she hissed.

"Hmph, see if I give you any flowers if a building drops on you," said Morph indignantly. Chloe turned and snarled at that, making Morph jump behind a shocked Megan.

Chloe shook Matt and yelled, "Matt, Matt, say something!"

"I don't want eggplant, thank you," said Matt in a dazed voice.

"Close enough. Up you get," said Chloe, effortlessly lifting Matt.

…

Meanwhile, Chang had been observing what is going on. "Hmm...Chloe seems to have caught the plague as well, but she seems so different from the others." She watched as Chloe looked around before seeing her eyes. "Well, I think Ghoulwyrm will want to hear this," she said, taking off.

...

Ghoulwyrm blew his nose and said, "So Matt and his sister are coming here, that's less surprising than it should be."

"That's not all. It seems that Miss Lynch is suffering from a more...unique strain," said Chang, showing an image of Chloe walking along.

Ghoulwyrm snorted and said, "Oh sure, that's actually Chloe. I don't need sympathetic entertainment."

There was a clang as Mecha Red limped in and called, "I wouldn't scoff if I were you."

"What happened to your forelegs?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"They were cut off by one of your spells," said Mecha Red darkly.

"What? How could she possibly know one of my spells?" asked Ghoulwyrm, "Come to think of it, the Lynches are more likely to be on the receiving end of a spell than the casting end."

"Whatever's turning her into...that has your knowledge," said Mecha Red darkly.

"That can't be possible, none of the others have a grain of my arcane knowledge," said Ghoulwyrm, "In fact, they only have a handful of knowledge to share between them."

"True, but they weren't true dragons," reminded Chang.

"Good point, but many spells I had to learn, how could they...argh...I can hear her in my head...SHE'S GOING TO RIP MY ARM OFF? I LIKE THIS ARM!" yelped Ghoulwyrm.

"Master, you may be able to use this to your advantage," said Chang, "If she can get into your head, than you can certainly get into hers."

"What? Go into her goody two shoe's half-human mind?" said Ghoulwyrm in disgust.

"It'll be the best position to break her will and control her," said Mecha Red.

"Oh no, I remember the last time I tried to control some goody two shoes," said Ghoulwyrm darkly.

"Did you have a psychic link to them?" pointed out Red.

"No, but...you do remember Mr. Lynch's attitude to those who mess with his bloodkin...correct?" said Ghoulwyrm.

Red snorted and said, "For someone who claims to be a master of terror, you buckle under fear a bit too easily."

"You go in that psychopath's head then," said Ghoulwyrm childishly. Chang facetaloned as Red and Ghoulwyrm began a childish name-calling match.

Fortunately, it was quickly ended when there was a loud pounding on the door. "Oh no..." said Ghoulwyrm weakly before, to his inner annoyance, one of his own shadow fire spells blasted the doors open.

"Well, I'd like to defend you, but my hands are full...so to speak," said Red.

"I hate you," said Ghoulwyrm dully as Chang sent another fireball aimed for him wide.

Chloe, followed by the rest of the group said, "I need you to lend me a hand...literally."

Ghoulwyrm coughed loudly and said in a feeble voice, "Whad kind of times are dese when ruffians can jud barge in and attack a sick old drake?" He punctuated this with a loud sneeze. He grinned nervously before saying more normally, "Not buying it?"

"Your little bug has been causing quite a lot trouble back at the base," said Matt.

"Germs spread quickly. You shouldn't have been so close to me or you wouldn't have caught it," said Ghoulwyrm.

Megan said "You sneezed on Kala." causing Ghoulwyrm to gulp and say "Erm...pardon me?"

"Yeah, it's bad enough you got your ectoplasm all over Kala, but you had to turn her into a zombie!" snapped Matt.

"I'm dead...dead for real this time..." whimpered Ghoulwyrm before glaring at Chang. "Well? GET THEM!"

"Master, your link, use it for whatever it's worth," said Chang.

"Ok...erm...don'tkillmedon'tkillme," said Ghoulwyrm, saying the last bit with his hands on his head in the classic 'corpy psychic' position before stopping and yelling at Chang. "A LITTLE HELP, YOU MORON!"

Chang glared before muttering, "I'm starting to wonder if Fate had chosen the right one to be the new Dragon of Darkness." She then threw a fireball at Matt.

Matt countered the blast with a plasma orb, spinning before sending both orbs back at sender. "I've been practicing...like?" he said, readying his ion staff.

"I really shouldn't be fighting when I'm sick," said Ghoulwyrm as he extended his tesla coils, "But I'm willing to make an exception." He sent several bolts of purple lightning flying towards Matt.

Matt jumped those, causing an unfortunate friendly fire incident with Mecha Red. "I prefer you ill, your aim stinks worse," he grinned before seeing Chloe closing in on Ghoulwyrm from behind. The lich span at the last second and found her blade an inch from his snout...and Chloe seeing to be seizing.

Ghoulwyrm decided to milk this for all this is worth. "You dare turn your blade on me? I hold your mind, I gave you power, I am your master, OBEY!" Ghoulwyrm's eyes flashed purple as he sent as much power through that psychic link as he could.

Chloe twitched before she punched Ghoulwyrm yelling "OMNIRUS!"

NegaMorph glanced around before asking, "Where? I don't see her."

Chloe looked around in confusion before spotting NegaMorph. "General? NegaMorph? Lynch is right there, why are you just standing there?" she said in anger, pointing at Matt, who was staring in shock along with Chang who was laughing at Ghoulwyrm.

NegaMorph scratched his head and said, "Ok, did I miss a chapter?"

"Wait...you turned on me...after I fried that stupid red jet bot," said Chloe accusingly.

"Er...that was a dream, obviously," said NegaMorph, "The empire hasn't moved into Cybertronian territory yet, remember?"

"Grab...LYNCH...and why am I in dragon half-form, one that isn't even mine," snapped Chloe, struggling to turn back before focusing on Ghoulwyrm. "You...I remember you," she snarled.

"Er, yes, I am your new commanding officer. You are to obey my-" started Ghoulwyrm a lightning bolt hit him, "Ow."

Chloe lowered her arm. "I don't think so...

"Well, those two are the ones responsible for your mutation!" said Ghoulwyrm, pointing at Matt and NegaMorph, "They're also responsible for messing with your memory as well!"

Chloe turned on Matt at that. "NegaMorph, I trusted you," she snapped readying a vaporizing blast only for Matt to drop kick her aim off.

"Hi...Silvia..." he said nastily before being kicked into a far wall.

"I was afraid of this," said NegaMorph, "Matt, we better get that cure already before she finds out how much Chloe's improved."

Matt jumped and rolled to avoid several rapid-fire blasts. "Too late I think!" he yelled.

Ghoulwyrm watched Silvia try to electrocute Matt and said, "Not exactly what I had in mind, but I can work with this."

Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Megan who said, "Excuse me, I just need to get something." He plunged a hand into Ghoulwyrm's chest before grabbing a tentacle and ripping it out.

Ghoulwyrm stared for a second before screaming in a high pitched voice as Silvia homed in on Matt. "This time, you're dead!" she screamed, smashing a plasma shield aside.

"Promises, promises," taunted Matt.

"You...urgh...are...grah...DEAAAD!" screamed Silvia. With a sudden shriek, Silvia's body flared with purple electricity and temporarily whited her out. When it cleared, she was back in human form.

"Ok, that was anti-climactic," said Matt. However, he spoke too soon as Silvia's arms stretched out and changed until they became a pair of large batlike wings with purple claws, much like Ghoulwyrm has. "Oooooh crapski," moaned Matt.

Then Silvia's legs bulged before her entire lower body started to shift. Quite quickly, she soon had the lower body of a wyvern, hand-like feet, tail, and all. Then Silvia's neck stretched out and became scaly as her teeth became sharper, her eyes became black and purple, and a horn grew out of the top of her head. Soon, she was a frightening combination of a harpy and a wyvern.

"Erm...Chloe?" tried Matt.

Silvia shrieked before spitting a stream of purple fire at Matt.

Luckily Matt managed to avoid a frying but it still left the main problem. "CHLOE, I HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT BREATH!" he yelled. Silvia screeched before swiping at Matt with her huge claws.

"Wow, nice reach. But only a B+ cause ya missed," taunted Matt.

Silvia screeched again before running at Matt. "Uh oh," said Matt before turning to put some more distance between the two of them. He quickly ran out of warehouse before doing the only option left, side stepping. Silvia couldn't stop at her speed, but as he scrambled to keep herself from colliding, she ended up running into the wall...and right through it without a mark.

"Erm...bye sis," said Matt in an unsure voice.

While Matt was busy with Silvia, the others were taking care of Ghoulwyrm. "Aww...someway has de sniffles," said Morph, "Looks like they could use a bowl of...AIYO WO DI BIZI CHICKEN SOUP!" Morph pulled out the soup container took off the lid.

Ghoulwyrm shrieked as he got a full on whiff of the garlic. "WHY DOES EVERYONE SHOVE GARLIC IN EVERYTHING? OH TARTARUS, MY NOSE IS ON FIRE!" he screamed.

"The garlic's not even the spiciest thing in there. Now open wide..." said NegaMorph with a cruel grin.

"No...NO...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Ghoulwyrm, backing up.

"Now, now, Ghoulwyrm, how are you going to get any better if you don't take your medicine," said Megan before binding Ghoulwyrm in place with shadow.

"No...you...you...BL'KOGABISNO!" Ghoulwyrm yelled, slipping into an unknown language

"Temper, temper, now we have to wash your mouth out with soup," said Morph.

"It's 'soap', Morph," said NegaMorph.

"We're not using soap."

"Good point."

Ghoulwyrm simply screamed before having the entire soup contents shoved down his throat. Ghoulwyrm's eyes watered as he felt the soup burning his throat all the way down. As soon as it hit his stomach, it started burning like acid. Ghoulwyrm screamed as the spiciness racked his body with pain.

Silvia could also be heard screaming outside before there was a clang noise and she yelled, "THAT'S CHEATING!"

"There seems to be certain disadvantages of being part of a hive mind. Oh well, I got the DNA we need, let's go," said Megan, holding up the tentacle she plucked.

"Gotcha. LYNCH, TIME TO LEAVE!" yelled NegaMorph.

"I'm not leaving her!" snapped Matt, before being grabbed by the back of the head, pushed into a wall and thrown at NegaMorph.

NegaMorph poked at Matt and said, "Yep, he's out cold. We'll come back with a few riot tanks and bag these bad guys later."

NegaMorph looked up as a snarling Silvia poked her head in. "Much later," he said, teleporting him, Morph and Megan back to where they had left Draco and Contrinus.

"So how do we use that cure again?" asked Morph.

"I don't know, the medibot was the one who was going to make it," said Megan.

"And he got chopped in half," said Morph.

Megan thought for a second before getting an idea, snatching the vial and shoving it down Contrinus's throat.

"Megan, I know we've been doing that a lot lately, but shoving something down someone's throat isn't the solution to everything," said NegaMorph.

"No, she heals. So if she has the cure inside her, it'll be like with Kala and the EXP," said Megan.

Morph scratches his head and asked, "Does it really work that way?"

"It's worth a try. It's not like we know how to fix a medibot," said NegaMorph as Contrinus slowly turned back...and woke up with a groan.

"Ow, I've got such a migraine," said Contrinus.

"Well, you were a zombie." said Megan as Draco, zombified again, began to wake up too.

"And Draco's a zombie too, go cure him!" said Morph.

"WHAT?" screamed Contrinus, clearly not remembering what had happened to her before sending a blast of healing energy at Draco...sadly along with some sunfire too.

Of course, it worked to cure Draco's zombie flu...but it left him with a few second degree burns.

"Whhhyyyyyyyyyyyy?" rasped Draco before falling backwards into a pool that began sizzling.

"Great, now we just have Contrinus blast all the zombies back at HQ," said NegaMorph.

"HQ'S FULL OF...uuugh…" began Contrinus before joining her bushi bu in happy unconsciousness

"She'll have time to wake up on the way back," said Megan.

...

Kala, out of the medical bay finally and human again walked out into the sun to see Matt sitting on the hood of one of the Humvees with a glum expression. "I heard about what happened at Ghoulwyrm's lair," said Kala, "I'm guessing they left before Neilson's forces could get there."

"Long gone according to Neilson. First time I heard him say sorry to me," said Matt, not turning around.

"We can find that living fossil," said Kala, "He'll probably pop up again soon. And getting Chloe back will be easy, it's not like she's been taken by the Empire."

"No...but she might as well have been," said Matt darkly.

"Silvia's not so hard to-"

"The only reason we were able to get her back was by dumb luck!" snapped Matt, "Omnirus's bite won't bring Chloe back again. Plus, she's more powerful than ever before!"

Kala jumped back at that, spotting the redness round Matt's eyes. "We'll get her back again. We got a cure this time," she said.

"How can you be sure it'll work? Chloe's half-Ghoulwyrm, you guys got nowhere near that close!" snapped Matt.

"I was mutated too and we're similar," said Kala.

"Similar, not the same, you're not even really human!" yelled Matt.

Kala looked hurt at that. "I know...I know I'm not human..." she said sadly as Matt realized what he'd said.

"Kala, I'm sorry, it's just...you two are the most precious ones to me. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that," said Matt.

"It's ok, if it was you we lost, I would be snapping at Chloe," said Kala

"And if it was you I lost, Chloe would be snapping at me...me...AH-CHOO!" Matt wiped his nose and said, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

Kala put a hand on Matt's forehead for a moment before saying, "Don't worry, you won't mutate, just a garden-variety cold."

"I survived night of the sneezing dead...AND CATCH A COLD?" snapped Matt.

Kala shrugged and said, "Cold and flu season."

* * *

Another chapter up. This one is obviously based on the various zombie outbreak-type stories. Along with a bit of your basic cold-spreading story. Still quite a bit of excitement for this, especially since Ghoulwyrm is pieced back together and he has Chloe/Silvia on his side now. The next chapter will involve his master plan so you definitely don't want to miss it.

Keep an eye out for an update and please review.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Author's note: the Mayor in this chapter is not intended to be a reference to any politician previously or currently in office. Any resemblance to any real people is just a mind-blowing coincidence.**

Being the mayor of a large city is a great responsibility. Being the mayor of a major city like New York demanded much attention and determination to maintain. Fortunately, the current mayor had the intelligence and integrity to run the city smoothly.

"Get out of there, you," snapped the mayor as he tried to remove his hand from his pickle jar without losing the vinegar-soaked prize.

Then again, everyone was entitled to a bad day.

Ghoulwyrm, in his current disguise watched with a slightly nervous grin as the Mayor struggled. "This is embarrassing," he muttered to himself.

"Relax, this will make it all the easier," muttered his new 'aide', completely unrecognizable from Chloe for those few who have not seen her in formal office attire.

"Of course, Miss Silvia. Now then, who is this gentleman?" said the Mayor, giving up on his pickle for now.

"I am merely a concerned citizen who represents a group of similar citizens who wish to ensure the welfare of our pets. I am Mr. Zyvar from Pet Owners of New York," said Ghoulwyrm.

The Mayor gave Ghoulwyrm an odd look and said, "PONY?"

"Er, we're working on the name," said Ghoulwyrm, inwardly cursing himself for not thinking about the acronym.

"So, how can I help the...PONY then?" said the Mayor, seeing Mr. Zyvar and for some reason his new aide, visibly wince.

"Ah, well, we are concerned about the safety of our dogs when we walk the streets. It is very important that they keep near to us so they don't wander into traffic or something equally unpleasant. Also, some dogs may not be able to control their primeval nature and may feel inclined to bite children..."

"Oh, a new leash law, is it?" asked the Mayor.

Zyvar opened his mouth and stopped. "Yes, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Zyvar has already drafted out an appropriate law that will make it mandatory for dogs to wear leashes outside," said Miss Silvia.

The Mayor muttered into his moustache, "Leash laws, will they ever stop? 'Leashes are needed.' 'Leashes are unfair.' 'Dogs should be kept in.' 'Dogs should be allowed freedom.' When will you people make up your minds?" "So, how is THIS law different?" said the Mayor in a bored voice.

"Er, the leashes are to be...thicker, so that stronger dogs won't get loose so easily," said Ghoulwyrm.

The mayor said promptly, "What's the catch?"

"A minor tax on the pet stores, to pay for restocking the shelves," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Fine...seems suspiciously fair," said the Mayor.

"It's just one step further for...PONY," said Ghoulwyrm, grimacing slightly on the name. He pulled a sheet of parchment out of his briefcase and put it on the table. "Just sign on the bottom," he said.

The Mayor looked at the letterhead. "What's with the Latin for blood oath? You're not scientologists, are you?" he said suspiciously.

"Er, no, it's mostly metaphorical for formality. Uh, by blood oath, we mean...the common blood shared by man and dog," said Ghoulwyrm, a little desperately.

"Oh please, if I sign this, will you leave?" said the Mayor with a glare.

"Of course, of course," said Ghoulwyrm.

As the Mayor signed, his 'aide' leaned in and whispered to Ghoulwyrm "I think Matt's onto something with using 'pain in the arse' as a persuasion technique."

The Mayor handed back the signed parchment and muttered, "Thank you for your time."

"And thank you for the city," said Ghoulwyrm smugly.

The Mayor looked confused at that. "I'm sorry, what was that?" he asked.

"You just signed away the whole city, dummy," said Ghoulwyrm mockingly.

"Wha...but...this isn't about dogs on leashes?" asked the Mayor, looking befuddled. Ghoulwyrm smirked before pointing a finger at the Mayor. A purple beam shot out and zapped the Mayor, turning him into a Yorkshire terrier. "Take all the leashes you want," said Ghoulwyrm. The Mayor apparently didn't find this at all favorable, judging by the angry yipping he was doing.

Silvia however, in an experiment attempt to hopefully find the Mayor's wallet in his desk, instead pulled a CPS auto-alarm...and automated silent alarm. "I shoulda known. No merc company can operate tanks without knowing people. Ghoulwyrm, company's coming," she said, showing the beacon.

Ghoulwyrm smiled and said, "Let them come. I have a special clause written down for them." He moved a finger across the parchment, which started glowing with a golden light.

Silvia rolled her eyes, deciding to leave out the mention of the dreadnought grade anti-magi shield around their headquarters. Let him have his fun before his head was blown off (again). It was at that moment when she noticed the energy in the air. "Boss...what are you doing?" she said nervously.

"This document doesn't just make me the ruler of this city. I OWN it. Everything in it is subject to my will. I have total sovereignty," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Yeah...about that, boss...slight fly in the ointment," said Omnirus is a careful voice.

"If you're worried about the world outside the city taking notice, don't. I'll have an illusion spell set up soon that make it seem like nothing's changed," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Not exactly that. Tell me, will the spell effect people who enter later?" asked Silvia carefully.

"No, why do you ask? All those mercs are here," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Not exactly," said Silvia carefully.

Ghoulwyrm's triumphantly smug look fell as he had a feeling who Omnirus was talking about. "Oh, don't tell me..." he groaned.

"Yup, Lynch and co. are on Draco Island according to my sources," said Omnirus, sympathetically before just looking embarrassed as Ghoulwyrm said "I'm an adult...I can take this...NO I CAN'T...WHYYYY!" bursting into tears.

…

At the Island of Draco, Matt had been summoned for his sister 'turning over to the dark side', again. Unfortunately, it would appear that magical artifacts were capable of jetlag and the anklet seemed think Matt was violating his parole.

"Look, I can YOW...explain alot-OUCH-better if this thing stopped biting m-EEEYOW!" said Matt desperately.

"Voodoo artifacts are temperamental. They do not adjust so easily..." started one of the Councilors. "THAT'S IT!" yelled Matt before grabbing the anklet and tugging with all his might. To the surprise of all, he managed to tear it off, though it did take all of the hair of his ankle with it. However, Matt's victory only lasted a few seconds before the anklet decided to make itself into a 'nose ring'.

The Council watched in embarrassed silence as Matt screamed something about the anklet trying to lay eggs in his brain via his nose. Techo, who had tagged along finally stepped over him and said, "Er...maybe I can explain better? The captain finds it hard to talk when creatures are burrowing their way into his brain."

One of the Councilors sighed and said, "Fine, the Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort shall be deactivated. It's not like Matt can escape this island anyways."

"You'd be surprised. When he wants to, he can be a sneaky little sh-...aaand there he goes," said Techo, noticing that Matt had already vanished, leaving the anklet that somehow looked like it was sulking, "Meeeh, he'll turn up. Anyhow...you probably heard about that space flu that hit NYC last week."

"Yes, the zombie outbreak," said one of the Councilors, "Not the first time this has happened in New York, but among the more well-contained ones."

Techo stared. "What zo-...you know, screw that, anyhow, Chloe's old personality took control of her new form. Hence why she's batting for team stupid," he said.

"And this...condition is curable?" asked another Councilor.

"Well, her personality won't be removed, just forced back into dormancy. But she should be able to be cured of her flu like everyone else," said Chris.

"That is good. We take...rogue dragons seriously and she and her brother are still council dragons, much like your alien dragon, Draco," said a third councilor.

"Of course, finding Ghoulwyrm and Silvia may still be a problem," said Kala, "I mean, they're not going to be parading on Main Street or anything."

There was a rumble at that. "What the? I thought this place had anti-tremor spells?" said Techo before there was a flash of light above and Matt landed with a scream on the anklet, which showed it had missed him by biting his nose again.

"Wow, those anti-jailbreak spells have a kick to them," said Chris.

"I am not so sure. However, you should return before that ghastly commander demands your head again," said the first councilor.

"Wait, you hate McNeil too?" asked Kala.

"The only difference between him and the Huntsman is that he only voices his dislike," said one of the councilors

"Well, we'd like to go check, but we have a bit of a customs problem, remember?" said Techo, pointing at the anklet.

Fine..." said the councilor, casting a spell that made the anklet latch itself round Matt's hand like the world's most violent bracelet. "Oh, not this one. I'm left handed you know," he complained.

"Once you're back in New York, go to the Magical Justice Division to have it properly adjusted," said the councilor.

"I hate yo-OW! OH, COME ON!" snapped Matt, before stomping off, the local magic causing a little storm cloud to follow him making a high pitched 'wheeeeee'.

...

One very fast elevator trip later, the gang was back in Grand Central Station.

Much to Matt's annoyance, the cloud had followed and was zapping him every so often. "I hope we find Ghoulwyrm today, I need to vent," he said darkly before the door opened...to a cave.

"Uh, the elevator only stops at two levels below ground, right?" asked Kala.

Matt poked randomly at the elevator buttons, but the elevator didn't respond at all. "Hmm...oookay then," he said, preparing to make the usual mercenary adjustment...ie: hitting it hard. However, the elevator refused to move in either direction.

"Rats gnawing the wires I bet," said Chris.

Matt walked out, checking his wrist computer. "Meter says we should be on the platform," he commented.

"I don't even see the tracks," said Kala, looking around.

Matt turned on his comm. "This is Captain M Lynch on all frequencies, CPS Code: 21232. Anyone there?" he said. However, all Matt could get was a weak signal.

"I don't like this. Let's get above ground," said Matt.

Chris sighed. "Hold on," he said, grabbing Matt's wrist comp despite protests and fiddling with the comm. "It's the same model Disperse Inc uses," he explained, "There...should be-" he began only for a mechanical tone to say "This is a quarantine beacon for the Manhattan area. Class 6 quantum event has occurred, all personnel evacuate."

"What's a Class 6 quantum event?" asked Kala.

"No idea, sounds bad though," admitted Matt.

"So, how do we get out? The stairs seemed to have gone the same way as the rails," said Techo.

Matt was tapping the walls before he apparently heard something to satisfy him and stood back, opening his backpack to pull out a grey metal device that tapered to a point. "Matt, where did you find that?" asked Kala.

"Uh, would you believe it washed up on the beach?" asked Matt.

"You robbed the Dragon Council?" Kala said in horror, glaring as Chris said "Nice one, man." the two high fiving.

"Matt, you can't just keep stealing things. It's only going to make things..." started Kala before Matt pointed the gun at the wall and shot out a barrage of lights that quickly opened a way through. "Awesome! I mean, I suppose that's a good reason for bringing it," said Kala.

Matt smirked before the two walked up the tunnel beyond and out into the night sky...though there was some differences...

"What the hell happened to downtown?" snapped Matt.

The sky was overcast with thunderclouds, but no rain was falling. Most noticeable was the lack of any technology. The building has somehow been converted into shorter ones that looked like they were made with obsidian. There were spires on every other corner that glowed with purple lava cracks. Most notably was what was once the Empire State Building, converted into a very evil-looking citadel.

"This is gonna be like that time that Black 13 spiked the punch with hallucinogenic again," moaned Matt, before yelling "GET LOST!" at the cloud which was going round and round above his head, 'wheee'ing.

"How long have we been away?" asked Kala.

Techo looked at his watch and said, "About four hours."

"So...we haven't fallen down a time rift again," said Matt, watching as a horse and cart went by with mild interest. The fact that both horse and driver were skeletons begged even more attention. "Oi, diet man, stop!" Matt yelled.

The skeleton stopped his horse before turning to Matt. "Eh? What are you fleshies doing out? I thought work hours weren't over yet," he said.

"You have one minute to explain what the hell's going on before I cut your head off and throw it in the East River," said Matt, annoyed by the skeleton's attitude.

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't like your work schedule. I just run the bus. It's not like I'm Lord Ghoulwyrm's top advisor," said the skeleton driver.

"Lord who? That moron? Ok, now I KNOW this is a hallucination," said Kala.

"Hey, watch it. You want to get the Stone Watch mad at ya?" said the skeleton driver.

"We're the cause that your boss has permanent stitching round his neck," said Matt.

The skeleton responded "I did wonder about that."

"Uh, do you think you can give us a lift to CPS HQ?" asked Chris.

"Where?" asked the skeleton.

"Oooooh crap," muttered Matt before the skeleton's eye glows got wider and he immediately took off. "That guy was ok for an unn...uuuuunnn…." said Matt, unable to say the only word that could send him into crazyland for sure.

"Ok for someone who shouldn't be walking around without a disguise," said Chris quickly.

"Uuuunnnnn...Unnnnnnnn." said Matt, twitching a bit before turning and going bug eyed and pointing wildly "un-unununununununnnnnrh…" he gibbered.

The group looked and saw a group of skeletons in Spartan uniform walking towards them.

"Ah, undead," said Chris sympathetically before yelling "Is there a problem officers?"

"All slaves are to be at work between the hours of 4 and 8!" snapped the skeleton leader.

"That doesn't sound like bad work hours," said Kala.

"Er, I don't think it's an afternoon job," said Techo.

The leader looked around them to see Matt gibbering, his latent magic causing his eyes to flash different colors. "What's his problem?" the skeleton demanded.

"Er, he ate some bad gruel," said Kala.

"Wait a minute, there's no food be served today, arrest them!" shouted the leader.

"DIIIIE!" screamed Matt before charging the shocked skeletons and barreling into them like an angry bowling ball into a row of ten pins.

"It's...it's beautiful," said Kala, she and Chris sidestepping as a skull flew past him, muttering "Join the army, they said."

"Ok, while Matt's busy bowling for bones, can someone explain what the heck happened while we were gone?" asked Techo.

One of the skulls said "You coulda just asked. We may be minions but we are more than happy to induct new slaves. Good grief, I've never seen anyone that angry since I was stationed in Amorica."

"Ok, so what did happen?" asked Chris.

"It's simple. Lord Ghoulwyrm has- Hey! That's my leg!" snapped the skull, noticing when Matt was smacking the remaining skeletons with it.

"Hey, focus skullboy," said Chris before a lightning bolt earthed in Matt, causing him to do a jig and fall over.

"What the-" started Chris before there was a high-pitched shrieking that force the gang to cover their ears to stem the pain from its shrillness.

Matt said dizzily, "My alarm clock survived?" before a grey scaled dragoness landed in front of him. "Siiis...night night," said Matt, before falling over.

"Well, well, Lord Ghoulwyrm was wondering when you would pop up," said Silvia.

"Do I win a pony? I wanna pony," gibbered Matt, his eyes spinning.

"Erm...sorry, I overdid it," said Silvia.

"I should say so," said Kala, "I think my ears are bleeding."

Silvia shook her head before yelling, "GRAB THOSE IDIOTS!"

"Who, you mean your legions of pick-'em-up sticks?" asked Chris. However, the scattered bones and armor suddenly quivered before flying around the group and forming into cages.

"You HAD to say it," said Kala nastily.

"Take them to the Citadel, Lord Ghoulwyrm has something special prepared for them," said Silvia. The shields from the armor attached themselves like wheels and started rolling the cages away.

"CHLOE, IF YOU DON'T SNAP PUT OF IT, I'M GONNA SEND A LINK TO YOUR FACEBOOK PHOTOS TO THE NEW YORK TIMES!" screamed Matt as his cage trundled away.

Silvia didn't feel that concerned about Matt's threat, seeing as the Times no longer existed. But she had a few odd memories of someone trying something like that and...she forgot what had happened to them.

...

Matt whistled as the citadel came closer. "I'll give him this, he knows style," he said.

The former Empire State Building retained most of its original shape, though the needle at the top was replaced by a medieval tower, which fitted well with the gargoyles and spiked turrets on the lower floors.

"So, Chris, how long do you think till they realize we coulda broken out at any time?" Matt called over

"You should probably ask when he's not teething," said Techo. Apparently, something in the air was bringing Chris's werewolf instincts to the forefront as he was busy chewing on his 'bars'.

"CHRIS, STOP EA...NEVER MIND. CARRY ON!" yelled Matt.

"Am I the only one disgusted that Chris is eating 1000 year old bones?" asked Kala.

"Hey, he's eating the cell," said Matt, grinning as the skull on Chris's cell turned and yelled "FOR TARTERUS'S SAKE, CUT THAT OUT."

Chris snarled before snapping at the skull. "AH! He got my nose!" yelled the skull.

"You haven't had a nose for over 900 years," said a skull on Matt's cell.

"Oh...yeah," said the first skull sadly.

"So, do the elevators still work in there or do you have a crane system?" asked Techo as they got closer to the citadel.

"We kept the elevators. Miss Omnirus said she'd put our lord through a mincer if he made her walk up 2 dozen floors," said Matt's cage's skull.

"But Omnirus can fly. Heck, she can go through floors, walls, and ceilings," said Kala.

"She was in a bad mood. She and Lady Silvia were in a fight," said the skull before realizing he was chatting with his victim, "I mean, SHUT UP, PRISONER!"

"Shoot, gossiping with villains is one of the few perks of this job," said Matt.

"We'll see how talkative you are once our lords done with you," said the skull grimly.

...

Ghoulwyrm sighed. "Let's go over it AGAIN. We do NOT hang the keys next to the door, we do NOT fall asleep in front of the cell with the keys in easy reach and we definitely do NOT give the keys to a dog for safe keeping," he said to the gargoyles he had as wardens.

"Then where are supposed to keep them?" asked one gargoyle.

"In the lock boxes that I gave you, you stone headed MORONS! There are 4 high risk prisoners coming in and I do not want them to leave till I am done..." snapped Ghoulwyrm, before settling at a desk as he heard the 'prisoners' being led to him for a gloat.

Just then, he noticed an executive pendulum toy on a desk. "Hmm, how did I miss that? Well, I think I ought to make it fit the rest of the fortress," said Ghoulwyrm before zapping the toy. In a puff of smoke, it was now much longer and had skulls instead of balls. Ghoulwyrm lifted one skull and started them knocking, the skulls saying 'ow' with each hit. There was a crackle and the toy turned back, still clacking. Ghoulwyrm glared before taking a closer look.

...

Omnirus smirked, "I can't believe you guys were caught so easy. I guess you have uses after all, Silvy," she said, tauntingly as the cages were led down the corridor.

Silvia glared and said, "Of course I'm still useful. Unlike someone who doesn't know how to fix a watch."

"Corrupted by your virus, if I believe. O'LORD...WE HAVE...oh," said Omnirus, throwing the doors to Ghoulwyrm's hall open and stopping.

"I am the ruler of this city and I command you stay boney," snapped Ghoulwyrm yelling at an executive toy which he zapped again. The skull briefly appeared before they blew a raspberry and became small plastic balls again. "How do you blow raspberries without tongues?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"Never mess with executive toys, sir. They're already slightly evil to start with," said Omnirus before saying "I brought the prisoners." yelping as Silvia zapped her and said "You mean WE brought them."

"Ah, Matthew and friends, how rude of you not to be here for my takeover," said Ghoulwyrm, "But then again, it'll be more fun to break your wills in from scratch."

Matt glared before saying, "Ok, let's skip to the torture."

"I like a good volunteer. I've got the brazen bull especially for..." started Ghoulwyrm before Matt started singing at the top of his lungs.

The reaction was impressive, shattering everything shatterable in the room and the rooms next door and causing Omnirus to gibber on the floor next to Silvia who had gone catatonic from horror. Ghoulwyrm finally cast a silence spell and said shakily, "Does...he practice to get that...evil?"

"Believe or not, he was born with it," said Kala.

"I'm surprised his parents didn't strangle him," said Ghoulwyrm before glaring, "Gah, I used up most of my magic muting that little moron. It seems I can only acclimatize one of you to my new order right now...hmm…" he said, looking at the 4 before looking at Kala, thinking of the perfect revenge for Matt blowing his eardrums out.

"Uh, just let you know, I'm not a virgin, definitely not a virgin," said Kala.

"Of course I know that. You think a vampiric dragon can live for over 3000 years and not be able to tell when someone's had the meat first?" said Ghoulwyrm before sniffing Kala, "Hmm, his scent's pretty strong. When was the last time you..."

"NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" snapped Kala.

Matt was silently making some very graphic representations of what he'd do to Ghoulwyrm as the vampiric dragon pulled out a vial. "I kept some after I saw how it affected your dear sister...and I made the modifications so it would do the same," he said evilly, taking the stopper out and holding it over Kala.

"If you think I'm drinking that gunk, you need to have your bolts tightened," said Kala.

"No, but it should help liven up your relationship, give you a real 'love bite'. Have fun ripping your boyfriend's jugular out," said Ghoulwyrm with a smirk, pouring the contents over her head.

Kala gave a scream before she tried to get the stuff off her head. After a bit, she said to the others, "Is it gone?"

"Uh, I know redheads don't tan that well, but were you always that pale?" asked Techo.

"Oh, that's just the start," said Ghoulwyrm, nodding to Silvia, "Take them down to the dungeon. Give Miss Triseptus and Mr. Lynch the same cell."

"Wait a minute, what about us?" asked Techo.

"Well, Chris, he can be one of my new guard dogs once we removed enough of his thinking," said Ghoulwyrm, "And as for you...er, I'm not sure you've done anything to me. What's your name again?"

"It's Techo, you scumbag!" yelled Techo angrily.

"Let him go. He's not a threat," said Ghoulwyrm, with a smirk.

"But he's their tech guy," said Silvia.

"Is he? Well, there's no technology advanced enough form him to use so my last statement is still correct," said Ghoulwyrm.

Techo was grabbed and dragged off but he managed to yell, "What? No gloating?"

"Ah, you'd like me to gloat, wouldn't you?" said Ghoulwyrm, "You'd like me to reveal my plans and how I managed to do all this. But if I did, there's a chance that you'll figure out a way to foil me. It may seems particularly unlikely now, but I'm not going to give you any information. My lips are sealed."

"What harm could I possibly do? With no tech for me to use, I can't do anything. You've obviously won and I'm all out of luck," said Techo, trying a final trick.

"Well, yes, you do have an uncanny luck streak but luck won't be able to help you this time," said Ghoulwyrm, "Ok, I'll give you a hint at my upcoming plan, but I'm not giving you any useable information. I'm going to...trick some...people into giving me...a way of taking over the world."

"Oh, not the old 'UN leader clone' ploy. You're a zombie, not a Bond villain," said Techo, gloomily.

"Really, I didn't think it was that...er, I mean, you're wrong, dead wrong, not even close," said Ghoulwyrm, "Take him out of my sight. And if he ever comes back into my sight, I'll...make an end table out of his bones."

Omnirus watched as everyone else left before wandering over to the clacker. "I don't see what all the fuss is abou-guuuuuh…" she said, groaning zombie style as she was hypnotized by the clacking marbles.

...

Silvia pushed Techo out into the street. "Get lost, human," she said.

Techo, glaring got back up. "Why don't you make me, you traitor?" he said, reaching behind him to his back pocket.

"I'll have you that I've honed my shriek so that it can strip flesh from bone. Perhaps Lord Ghoulwyrm will have that end table sooner than he expected," said Silvia.

"That's not your style though. You always liked the up close and personal trick, Little Miss Lizard," said Techo, tauntingly.

"Such as sticking my claws through your ribcage and finding where exactly your vital organs are?" growled Silvia.

"Come on, then," taunted Techo, dodging into an alley, as the now furious Silvia stomped after him.

She turned the corner and suddenly heard a click from her wrist. She looked down to see what looked like a modified gauntlet computer on her arm. "What is, GGGAAHHAHAHA!" she yelled as the inhibitor began shocking her.

"Got that idea from our ex-friend Jekyll," said Techo smugly.

Silvia gibbered a bit before the inhibitor finally let loose an anti-magi pulse, shattering the magical flu's hold on her. "Program complete," it chimed before falling off.

With a groan, 'Silvia' opened her eyes and asked, "Why do I feel like I've been put through a license plate-making machine? And why aren't we at the warehouse?"

"Chloe? Look in the puddle...and try not to freak out. Huh...'tech can't do anything', eh you undead scumbag?" said Techo, looking up smugly for the last part.

"Excuse me?" growled Chloe.

Techo rolled his eyes before pushing Chloe's head round to a puddle before jumping behind a dumpster as the guards came running at Chloe's terrified shriek.

"Halt, who goes there?" demanded one of the skeletons, brandishing his spear.

Chloe cleared her throat and said "Go away, you morons." in her best Silva impression.

"Oh, Miss Silvia, we weren't aware it was you," said the skeletons saluting.

"Fine, now smeg off," said Chloe. As soon as the skeletons were gone, she reached down and pulled Techo out, finding to her horror that her current form was alot stronger. "What...happened?" she snarled.

"Well, your flu brought out Silvia who sided with Ghoulwyrm," said Techo, "Somehow, they've managed to take over Manhattan, but I don't know how they did it."

"Where's our side? CPS control has reality shields against this sorta thing," hissed Chloe, looking around.

"I don't know. If they were able, they'd be taking down Ghoulwyrm's forces by now," said Techo.

"Let's get to control. Find out what's going on," said Chloe.

...

Techo and Chloe stared at Control...or what Control was on. "Oh, they're in an iceberg, interesting," he said carefully. It seemed that the headquarters was spared the reality landscaping the rest of the city was given, but it was completely covered in over 10 feet of ice.

Techo looked around. "Well, no help here...unless... Come on, Chloe, this way," he said, running towards the nearby river.

"Where are we going?" asked Chloe as she followed.

"You know how NSC had the engineering corps build CPS HQ for em?" said Techo, jumping down to the gravel beach below and looking for something.

Chloe shrugged, "Vaguely."

Techo continued, tapping the bricks. "Well, the original entrance was a tunnel coming out here...BINGO!" Techo said, pulling a false brick aside to find a release lever. As soon as it was pulled, a section of wall, fell forward, revealing a deep tunnel, wide enough for two scorpion tanks abreast.

"The place seemed pretty deeply frozen. You think anyone will still be able to move?" asked Chloe. "Only one way to find out," said Techo as he walked in.

...

Matt sat gloomily in his cell, looking over at Kala who was rocking back and forth on the other side of the cell. "It'll be ok," he said for the third time in the last hour, his voice seeming to calm her down before he looked over at one of the gargoyle guards, who looked a bit draconic, like the time he'd been gargoylized. "Hey, what's your story?" he asked.

"Uh...not very long," said the gargoyle, "I was just a statue until Lord Ghoulwyrm gave me life."

"You remind me of some gargoyles I met. Let me guess, he warned you would turn to stone in daylight," said Matt, carefully.

"Yeah, which is why he covered the sky in with clouds," said the gargoyle.

"Ok. Strange, the gargs I met would be disgusted that you're working for a Grade A scumbag like Ghoulwyrm," commented Matt.

"Lord Ghoulwyrm gave us life, we owe him our loyalty," said the gargoyle.

"Ghoulwyrm gave you life to use you as his personal attack dogs, nothing else. If, or more precisely when this all goes south, he'll either kill you or send you on a suicide run," said Matt bitterly.

That made the gargoyle stop and think. "Well, I admit my life hasn't been much, but shouldn't it last longer?" he asked.

"Yeah, what's your name?" said Matt.

The gargoyle paused for a long time before asking, "What's a name?"

"It's...an identity, a way of identifying yourself to others. My name's Matthew, or Matt, if you like. What's _your_ name?" said Matt.

"I...never got a name," said the gargoyle, "No one has. Normally, we're just called 'Guards' or 'you there' or something like that."

"You look like a Nicolas to me," said Matt, innocently.

"Nicolas, I like the sound of..." started the gargoyle when Omnirus's voice was heard yelling, "Hey guard, get over here!"

Nicolas sighed and walked out, trying to ignore Matt's yell of "You know this is wrong...YOU KNOW IT!"

Omnirus glared and snapped, "What did we say about talking to prisoners, you fool?"

"But, there's no one else to talk to," said Nicolas.

"Guards are to be seen, not heard," said Omnirus, "You gargoyles are just supposed to guard, nothing else."

Nicolas glared, his eyes glowing white before saying "As you wish." passing the keys over. "I will be in the roost with my brothers and sisters," he said, leaving.

Omnirus rolled her eyes and walked into the dungeon. "Nice try, Lynch but those gargoyles are just disposable targets. Side effect from the random fallout of the spell, like those troopers who appeared in Times Square," she taunted.

"What troopers?" asked Matt.

"I'm sure you'll meet them at some point. They seem more efficient than those gargoyles, even if they can't glide," said Omnirus, "I think Ghoulwyrm was planning on upgrading them to something...conquering-grade. The troopers, I mean. The gargoyles will probably end up practice dummies for them."

"That's...wait, you are evil," said Matt, forgetting who he was talking to for a second.

Omnirus sighed. "Hey, I think we shoulda just left the stone brains alone. They're not bothering me, but the less allies you have, the better," she commented, neither noticing the pair of widening gargoyle eyes staring from the darkness. Omnirus looked at the twitching Kala, taunting, "And how are you doing?"

"Just...fine..." said Kala, sounding a little weak.

"You don't look so fine. Maybe you need to be drinking more fluids," teased Omnirus.

Kala's eye twitched, now blood red. "No...I'm f-f-f-f-fine," she said shakily

"Love the new eye color, matches your hair," said Omnirus.

"Uuurrrrgrrrrr…" growled Kala, making it clear that she wanted Omnirus to be her first 'drink'.

"Ah, you want a piece of me, come and get it," said Omnirus, holding her right lower arm just next to the bars. Kala made a swipe for it, but Omnirus pulled it back. "Too slow. Hey, look on the bright side: there's a talking MRE right there in the cell with you, honey," taunted Omnirus, walking out with a cruel laugh.

"Ha, like she'd turn on me that easily," said Matt, "Right, Kala? Kala?"

Kala, who had been staring at Matt, shook her head. "Sorry…I never realized how nice your neck looked," she said distantly.

"I'll...take that as a compliment," said Matt, pulling his collar up a little higher.

...

Techo shone a light around the bay the tunnel had ended in, showing a row of various vehicles, Scorpion, Rhino and Grizzly tanks and four mechs. "Cool, the Mantis exo-mech. I heard these were only given to some kinda super-dread that Kornite Shipyards were building," he said in awe, causing Chloe to shake her head. "Yeah, I guess supplies sent the stuff here before the place was closed off," said Techo before a rattling was heard.

"What was that?" asked Chloe, "You'd think these bat ears could pick up sound locations better."

Techo looked around before spotting a red dot behind one of the tanks. "Oh crap...get DOWN!" he said, yelling the past part as 12 MA5D's opened fire.

Chloe quickly threw herself down and ended up phasing halfway through the floor. "Ok, I need to figure out all this new form can do," said Chloe, "And more importantly, how to undo it."

"Hold fire, ya idiots," yelled a familiar voice.

Techo raised his head slowly. "Leyton? Boss, is that you?" he called.

"Techo...is that you? I wondered when ye'd turn up. Thought I was the only one tae know about this little cubbyhole," called the voice of Commander Leyton, the formidable boss of CPS.

"I was the one who said we should have lifts instead of having to drive all the way to the beach," said Techo.

"Fair enough, so why you got one of Ghouly's lackies with ye?" called Leyton.

"I'm not his lackie, I just got some of his germs inside me," snapped Chloe.

"Nice to see ye feelin' more ye'self, Chloe. PUT THOSE GUNS DOWN, YE STUPID TOSSERS!" called Leyton, the sound of safeties being placed on sounding.

"Anyone else make it out of the glacier?" asked Techo.

"Well, not exactly," said Leyton.

One of the troopers walked forward, holding a block of ice with Chip inside it. "We managed to chip him out," said the trooper.

"Let's see if I can put my new voice to use. Put him down and give him room," said Chloe, the trooper dropping Chip and running to the side before Chloe let rip with a sonic scream. The ice quivered before shattering, leaving a dazed Chip lying on his back.

Chloe didn't stop for a second, having to sonic scream with her eyes closed till Leyton slapped the back of her head. "He's out, ya twit...and probably deaf now," he scolded.

"You still have lightning powers?" asked Techo. Chloe tried and sent a purple blast out, zapping Chip and Techo. "Ok...that's a yes," he rasped.

Chip groaned and sat up. "Chloe, did you have to sing so loudly?" he asked.

"I wasn't singing, I was shrieking," said Chloe.

"What's the difference?" said Chip before falling back down.

"Ok, I went up top an hour ago. It's a smeggin' mess. We cannae even find Long and the other dragons," said Leyton, gloomily.

"Nobody got the broadcast?" asked Chip.

"No. Our comms were toast when we arrived," said Techo.

"Well, just before Ghoulwyrm remodeled the city, he used the big screen in Times Square to gloat to the citizens before they were captured," said Chip, "Hang on, let me see if my holographic projector still works." The mercs shrugged before settling down, prepared for the free entertainment.

After a few seconds of static, Chip managed to project an image of Ghoulwyrm on the big screen. "Greetings, citizens of New York City. I am Ghoulwyrm, you're new mayor, but you may refer to me as 'Lord Ghoulwyrm'."

"Hey, it really does add ten pounds...to his ego," said a trooper, the group chuckling as Chloe's voice on the holo said "We've only got a few minutes, you moron. Get on with it."

Ghoulwyrm glared offscreen before continuing, "If anyone of you are questioning my rightful claim to this city, you need only check your history books. When this island was first settled, the Native Americans traded it to the European pioneers for only a few beads and I have those beads. And with this special contract, signed by your former Mayor, that makes me the legal ruler of this city."

Omnirus's voice said, "The field's gonna hit the big screen."

Silvia's voice said, "Get on with it, Captain Ego."

Ghoulwyrm snapped, "SHUT UP, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE GOT TO THIS STA-...I mean... Anyways, the rules of your new lives are simple. Everyone over the age of 18 is to be put to work in the assembly lines. All at or under the age of 18 will be brought in for re-education. No one leaves this city without permission, which you shouldn't get high hopes of getting. But most importantly, my word is law and breaking the law will be the last moment of happiness you'll ever experience."

Silvia's voice was heard, "That's your speech? My sandwich could do-" before it cut off.

Techo said, "He's not really good on a camera, is he?"

"Well, that explains where everyone is. I hope the kids will be able to withstand the brainwashin'," said Leyton.

"The only school big enough is Mr. Long's old elementary. Guess we start there, but we'll need big guns to get past whatever's guarding the place...and all this stuff's junk," said a trooper.

"Those hunks of junk?" said Leyton before being blinded as Techo, sitting in the pilot seat of one of them, powered it up.

"Yeah...I think so," he said smugly.

...

A few hours earlier...

It took a bit of time to assemble all the kids in New York. And Ghoulwyrm wouldn't settle for just all the students. He made sure to get all the home-schooled and even the homeless ones. They were crammed into an auditorium that somehow managed to fit them all.

Professor Rotwood, looking bored said, "Pleaze velcome your new headmaster, Lord Ghoulverm...iz zat really your name?" he said, looking at the note again to doublecheck.

"Yes it is, now back to the assembly line, and for that little remark, you shall be changed to giant badgers as you work," said Ghoulwyrm. Rotwood was dragged away screaming, the kids just wondering why he was screaming at such a stupid punishment.

Ghoulwyrm turned his attention to the large crowd of children and teenagers. "Now, kids, I know you may feel a bit of anticipation over the new regime and the prospects of your future. But things aren't all bad for you. In fact, as a gesture of my courtesy, there will be no homework this month." Most of the kids cheered at that, though Jake, sitting at the back, had a bad feeling that the catch was about to arrive with a snap. "Of course, that's because none of you get to go home," said Ghoulwyrm, lowering the boom.

"What? Hey, you can't do that." said one of the kids angrily

"As lord of this city, I think you'll find that I can do whatever I wish," said Ghoulwyrm, "You see, that's the kind of bright determination and fiery hope that all you kids have. And that's why I have to snuff. Before we get down to any education, everyone will have to serve a month of ULTRA DETENTION!"

"You're kidding," said the kid, dully.

"Nope, four weeks of being tortured by your worst nightmare should be enough to break your spirits. But if further breaking is needed, there's always remedial. And since you're such a fine example, let's have you do the first demonstration," said Ghoulwyrm before snapping his fingers. A pair of shade demons appeared and grabbed the kid. The others all jumped back in horror as the luckless victim vanished.

"Oh...and any attempt to escape will be stopped by this gentleman and his friends. Who did you say you were?" said Ghoulwyrm, nodding to a human in a black uniform.

"Captain Darrow. Imperial Spec ops," he said with a cold smile.

"Yes, yes, we must do tea sometime," said Ghoulwyrm before turning to the kids and said, "Well, children, it's time for ULTRA-DETENTION! We'll see you again in about a month."

...

Darrow looked at the latest report, in actuality a mirror that let him check the pocket dimensions to make sure the victims didn't actually die. "Boring, boring, boring, I almost miss the commander. Perimeter, any trouble out there?" he said, saying the last part into his comm.

"Nothing but those skeleton troops. This place was taken over too easily. They could have at least give us some resistance for us to smack down," came the reply.

"Yeah...oh, crap, hold on," said Darrow, noticing that the Long kid's torturer was taking things too far, "What was the shutdown phrase? Ah yes, TARTERUS: ROOM 32. Andrews, get a response team and medic to room 32. A stupid shape shifter nearly killed his charge again."

...

Jake was hurled out of the room before the door behind him tried to close, though the Krylock inside was very intent on getting out and finishing what it started.

He stood up unsteadily and looked around, shaking his head to get the dizziness out before seeing three troopers in Darrow's uniform running into view. "Hey you, don't move. Talons where we can see them," said one of them, readying a rifle.

"Ya mean these talons? DRAGON UP!" With a flash of fire, Jake was in dragon form and spitting fireballs at the troopers.

The troopers dived for cover, one firing wildly round the corner. "Captain, we got a runner. Kid damn well faked it," said one of the troopers as Jake flew past.

"Don't worry, he won't get far. I don't think Mr. Wyrm will mind an 'accident'," said Darrow.

...

Jake smashed out of the school to be blinded by a floodlight from Darrow's sole vehicle, a black plated warthog jeep. "You're not going anywhere kid," said a voice on a loudspeaker.

"Uh, you better keep back, I can shoot fire from my fingertips," said Jake, pointing his finger like a gun.

The troopers looked at each other and began laughing. "Take your best shot, kid," called one of them. Jake aimed and said "Er...bang?" before jumping back as the sound of several machineguns were heard, the troopers looking around in panic as they were cut down, the attack ending as a missile shot out the fog and blew the hog to pieces.

Jake stared at his finger like it was the world's deadliest weapon. He pointed it into the darkness and said, "Ok, whoever you are, come out or you'll get some more!"

Several mechanical footsteps were heard before two mechs strode into view, a row of CPS mercs holding rifles walking alongside them as if just out for a stroll. Chloe, still undead and Techo could also be seen with them, Techo saying "Bloody hell, I can see how you got the job, boss."

"You don't get ta be head by pushin' papers," said Leyton.

Techo turned. "Oh, hey Jake. Thanks for being a distraction and not moving," he said cheerfully.

"I thought you guys got froze over," said Jake before looking at Chloe and adding, "And I thought you were under zombie mind control."

"Apparently I'm better," said Chloe icily as Leyton said "Most of CPS are still cold. We're all ye got."

"Well, I'm not sure how much good that'll be. Ghoulwyrm still has the Stone Guard and they've got cockatrices," said Jake.

"I was wondering about that name," said a trooper.

"Filters in the helmets for the cockatrices, but that won't stop 'em tearin' us a new one. Techo, where's Lynch? He's the best demo I ever trained. He'll make a great distraction," said Leyton.

"In Ghoulwyrm's dungeon with Kala, who's been turned into a vamp," said Techo.

"Ah crap, we need a way to thaw the boys out," said Leyton before suddenly turning to look at Chloe, "Unless...well, we do have an inside lady now."

With a groan, Chip sat up and said, "All that won't matter in the end. Ghoulwyrm has legal control over all of New York City."

"Will he still be in legal control with my ion hammer crushin' his ribs?" said Leyton, waving the two handed glowing battlehammer for emphasis.

"Afraid so, he's immortal so that won't stop him for long. Unless...where's Megan?" asked Chip.

"No idea. We weren't on the street long enough before Chloe snatched us," said Techo.

"She's probably in there with all the other kids," said Jake, pointing back at the school.

Two of Leyton's men walked out of the school, dragging Darrow between them. "We found a rat, boss," said one of them, pushing Darrow forward.

"Who's that?" asked Chip.

"That's the guy Ghoulwyrm had in charge of keeping us here," said Jake with a growl.

Surprisingly, Darrow didn't even look worried, "A growl? Is that all you have? I've faced far worse than any of you."

"Ok, buddy, you're gonna show us where the little sorceress is or else," said Leyton before pulling out a tape recorder.

"Or what? You're going to bore me with dictations?" asked Darrow unimpressed.

"Not exactly," said Leyton with a smirk, one of his men making motions to plug ears before Leyton hit play and a recording of Matt singing blew out every window for the entire block.

In less than a minute, Darrow yelled, "Enough, turn it off, turn it off!"

Leyton clicked off the recording, though from the look of how many cracks the recorder had on it, it wasn't likely to play again. "I lose more tape recorders that way," muttered Leyton.

"She's in room 12b, release word is ebony. You're gonna let me go...right?" said Darrow before Leyton shot him.

"Nope, I dannae like kiddie stealers," he said icily

"Wasn't that harsh?" asked Jake, a little shocked by what he saw.

"He's torturin' kids, was more than happy to have his rats shoot ye. He's an insult ta mercenaries and humanity. NSC woulda given him the same thing," said Leyton icily before saying, "Nicky, you and three of the boys stay here, get the kids outta those room sand make sure they're safe. We're gonna go plant our inside lady."

...

Despite the new powers it gave her, Chloe wasn't pleased about her latest form. She's even less pleased that she had to pretend to be Silvia to get into the citadel.

Leyton said, via earpiece, "Now then, lassie. You're gonna have tae play the part perfect, meanin' if he wants a snog, ya give it him and dannae knee him in the goolies till later."

"You sure that Silvia wouldn't do that same thing?" asked Chloe, "I'm pretty sure she doesn't literally kiss up to people."

"That depends lassie. He hasn't seen one of his for a long while," said Leyton, a few sniggers heard in the background before Chloe shorted the earpiece out in anger.

"I swear, men are so immature," she grumbled as she walked through the hall.

She immediately spotted two skeletons suspiciously at attention. They had clearly been slacking off, though what got her attention to this was the smoke coming out the left skeleton's skull from the cigarette in it that he had hastily swallowed.

She stopped in front of the skeletons and snapped, "What have you two lazybones been doing?"

"Nothing ma'am...nothing," said the smoking skeleton with a wince.

Chloe flicked the skeleton's skull, causing it to fall off. As it landed on the floor, the cigarette rattled out. "Taking an unpermitted smoking break, eh?" asked Chloe as she stomped on the cigarette.

"Erm...how did that get there?" said the skull in mock surprise.

Chloe placed her foot on top of the skull and said, "I have half a mind right to crush you into powder." She put a little pressure on her foot to make her point.

"OKOKOK...We won't do it again," whimpered the skull.

"Good, now go guard the ground floor before I change my mind," snapped Chloe. The two skeletons quickly left, after the one who had been smoking grabbed his skull.

Chloe, despite everything found to her personal shame that she'd enjoyed that. It wasn't every day you got the bad guys to call you sir. "Ok, I think I've got Silvia's attitude down pat," she said to herself.

She walked in and heard a voice say, "Oh...so you finally returned."

Chloe froze when she heard Ghoulwyrm's voice. "Well, I had to check if anyone else had managed to weasel their way into the city," she said.

"Well then, my dear, now we have time to ourselves," said Ghoulwyrm before making what many who heard the story would agree was a big mistake...putting his arms round Chloe. The skeletons had overheard their lord's pickup line and had turned back to watch. They may not have organs anymore, but they could still in sympathy at what 'Silvia' did to Ghoulwyrm.

After about two minutes of agony, Ghoulwyrm was tossed against the wall and pinned there. "If you EVER try that again, there will be no point do you get me?" she snarled.

Ghoulwyrm squeaked, "Yes, ma'am."

As Chloe walked away from Ghoulwyrm's mangled form, she felt a lot of satisfaction about taking that lich down a few pegs. She had always wanted to do something like that, but she never had enough physical strength. Maybe there were benefits to being undead and...

She stopped when she realized, to her horror that she was enjoying being undead. "Eeep," she said quietly. "Ok, enough fooling around," she said to herself, "I need to break Matt and Kala out before I decide to put a coffin in my room. Though it would look nice if I got the right drapes and... NO! BAD CHLOE!" she screamed, banging her head against a wall.

No time to lose, she had to get her brother and bring an end to this Halloween special. She hurried towards the elevator and paused when she saw a skeleton acting as an elevator assistant. "Wow, Ghoulwyrm's really going retro," said Chloe.

"Floor boss?" asked the skeleton, only to be thrown out of the elevator. "Do I presume a tip's out the question?" he asked as the lift closed

...

Meanwhile, Techo, Chip, and a few other of Leyton's men were looking for Megan's room in the school. "Ok, 13b, 13a, here we are, 12b," said Techo, pointing at the door.

Chip looked at it. "Ok...who's going in?" he said before Techo opened the door and had his hair blown back by a demonic scream before a purple squid thing jumped on his face. "Ok...I'm not," he said in a muffled voice.

"Fine, I'll go," sighed Chip, "Anyone who has the nerve can follow."

"We're fine," said Techo.

Chip walked into the inky blackness of the room and said to himself, "Ok, so it's a pocket dimension based upon Megan's worst nightmare, how bad could it be?"

A demonic voice said, "Ooooh...canned food."

"Er, better find Megan," said Chip before hurrying on.

"What's the hurry?" said the same voice, a higher pitched one asking "Don't you want to play?"

"Well, I'm on a bit of a time limit," said Chip, "Can't be wasting too much time."

"Oh...we got alllll the time in the multiverse," said the first voice.

"If you're trying to scare me, I'll have you know that you're as intimidating as the non-existent boogeyman and should reserve your efforts for someone much less mature who'll be more susceptible to being frightened, like a toddler," said Chip.

"Oh...you're not scared?" said the high pitched voice before several tentacles shot out and lassoed Chip.

"Then again, I do tend to jump to conclusiOOOOONS!" Chip screamed, being dragged into the darkness.

...

Megan was not having fun. Currently, she was reliving one of the more disastrous conjuring attempts she had done. The one where she ended up sending herself into another realm. She had her eyes closed to another replay when she heard a scream of 'NOT THE MAGNETS' in a voice she knew

"Chip?" she asked.

"Megan...I'm over...ggggrrrk...SHE'LL BE COMING ROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMES...DAMMIT!" came the reply.

Megan would have rushed to help Chip, but she was entangled in the web of a demonic spider at the moment.

"SHE'LL BE RIDING SIX WHITE HORSES WHEN SHE COOOMES...KEEP TALKING AND I'LL GET TO YOU!" yelled Chip

"Ok, but I'll have to start screaming when the preying mantis comes back," said Megan, "I'm just glad I can regenerate."

"OK...JUST GET THIS MAGNET OFF ME WHEN I...grrrk...22 BOTTLES OF KR'TA ON THE WALL..." screamed Chip.

"Deal, you're way off tune anyways," said Megan.

"NOT FUNNY...GAAH...RIGHT...THATS IT...NO MORE MR. NICE CHIP!" yelled Chip, now an experiment at the end of his patience

A demonic voice said, "Hey, where'd he get the-" before the sound of laser fire completely blotted everything else out.

Megan settled for getting comfortable, remembering the last time Chip had snapped before finally Chip, covered in green ichor, staggered into view. "Stupid demons," he muttered darkly.

"Ok, now that you're here, you think you can cut me loose? The preying mantis will back any second," said Megan.

"Oh please, I can handle one little bug...who turned out the lights?" said Chip, cocky on his easy victory before noticing he was in a shadow.

A clicking voice said, "I did, smartarse."

Chip looked behind him to see a 6 foot tall mantis glaring down at him. "You meant preying with an 'e', didn't you?" said Chip.

"Ya, she is meaning that, tinned one," said the mantis before bringing its forearm down on Chip's head. Megan winced as the preying mantis started beating up Chip. The mantis finally lifted up the dazed chip. "Why you interrupt, tinned food?" it asked.

"I'm just here to pick up Megan from school," said Chip in a dazed tone.

"Why you not say, silly tin?" said the mantis.

"What?" said Chip in horror that it had been that easy.

"Her screaming hurt my exoskeleton, take her," said the mantis

With that, the preying mantis dropped Chip before walking off. "Uh, that was actually a heroic fight to the death, if anyone asks," said Chip.

The mantis's voice came out saying "If you two no gone in 2 minutes, I eat your brains."

It didn't take Chip too long to get Megan out of the web. "Thanks for the rescue, you do have a way of getting out of here, right?" asked Megan.

"Of course, I left a twine trail back to the door," said Chip.

The mantis came back at that moment, tossing a pile of yarn on Chip. "And stop littering our realm. Some heroes are so inconsiderate," he said.

"Ok, this isn't good," said Chip.

"I just want out of this warped science class as soon as possible," said Megan.

Chip turned at that. "This is _science class?_" he said in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, it apparently used to be before it got warped into demon bug land," said Megan, "I saw a chemical cabinet over there."

Chip looked over to where Megan had pointed, where an imp sat. "...What?" it said, accusingly.

"Megan, would you like the honors of getting rid of that imp?" asked Chip.

Megan grinned nastily before cracking her knuckles. "With pleasure," she said.

The imp just moaned, "I miss the Greece job." before being blasted.

"Now then..." muttered Chip before opening up the cabinet and looking inside, "Yes, yes, aha, perfect, this is just what we need." He took out a couple of flasks and a large beaker.

Megan looked over him at the beaker "Are you doing that I think you aRe?" she asked.

The mantis added, "Me hope not, we just finish fix on dimensional barrier last week."

"Well, if you have any better ideas of how to get out of here, I'm open to suggestions," said Chip, pouring another chemical into the beaker, making it bubble even more.

Megan gulped and gave the beaker to the mantis. "Here, look after this," she said, knowing an incoming explosion from experience.

"Oh, thank you...hey wait a se-" the mantis began before the explosion removed it...and a wall from existence...or at least that part of existence where things were in one piece

As soon as the noise faded, Chip remarked, "Just a reminder, I'm a genetic experiment designed for superior intelligence and military sabotage. Don't attempt to repeat what I just did at home or school."

Megan looked around. "Erm...I know all that. Matt is always yelling at me to explode my potions outside," she said, before saying, "Who are you talking to?"

"Well, I'm just trying not to give a bad example," said Chip, "Let's go before they figure out how to close that hole back up."

After a minute, the mantis poked its head out of its new crater and moaned, "Me hate tourists."

...

It took Chloe a few tries to find which floor Matt was being held on. Apparently, Ghoulwyrm had decided that keeping the torture chamber/dungeon in the basement was too predictable. Luckily he was easy to find for two related reasons. Number 1 was that he was singing as usual and number 2 was the guard having a nervous breakdown. Chloe was tempted to just blast the guards and break Matt out, but now may be a bad time to blow her Silvia persona.

As it was, the guard seemed to have regressed from stress...and bad singing turning his nerves to cream cheese. "Make the bad singing go away, mummy," he gibbered as Chloe came into view.

Chloe gave him an annoyed look and said, "I am not your mummy. If you can't act your age, then leave this chamber until you can. I'll watch over the prisoners."

As it was, the guard seemed to have lost it, shoving the keys at her and screaming "I QUIT!" before banishing himself.

Chloe blinked in surprise before saying, "Well, that's impressive, even for Matt."

"And for my next number..." said Matt's voice from the cell.

"If you start singing 'Jailhouse Rock', I'll just leave you in there," called Chloe.

"Chloe? Nope, not falling for it...100 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL..." replied Matt, actually causing a window to smash.

"Matt, the guard's left, not just the building but the dimensional plane. You don't have to keep that up," said Chloe.

"99 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE...wait, really?" said Matt's voice

"Yes, the poor thing was nearly out of its mind before I relieved it," said Chloe.

"Oh good...COME BACK TO ME, MY DARLING MELODYYYYY!" began Matt, singing again and causing Chloe to spasm from sheer awful.

"Matthew James Lynch, if you do not stop the disgrace to all things melodic, I will turn around right now and leave to your vampiric girlfriend!" snapped Chloe.

"Ok...that's definitely you. GET ME OUTTA HERE!" said Matt.

"Just a minute, I need to figure out which key is which," said Chloe as she was putting different keys on the key ring into the keyhole.

"Just blast the door...KALA, NO LOVE BITES!" said Matt, yelling the past part at Kala who was eyeing him like the last slice of coconut cake around

Chloe eventually got a responding click and opened the door into the dungeon. Matt had set up his cot like a barricade against an increasingly likely vampire attack. Kala was almost completely transformed, her pale skin and red eyes standing out against her red hair, not to mention her pointed ears and teeth. Actually, the only thing absent from the vampire appearance would be a pair of puncture wounds on her neck.

"Erm, Kala, you sleep it off, here's a bed," Matt said panicky before pushing the cot on her and running out the cell. Kala gave a hissing cry before jumping over the cot and towards the door, which Matt had slammed shut. "Uh, maybe we should leave her there until we kick Ghoulwyrm's butt," said Matt, dodging back to avoid a swipe from Kala's claw-sporting fingers.

"Gee, ya think?" said Chloe sarcastically.

"So, I see you're feeling better," said Matt.

"I'd rather have my own face, but someone insisted we needed an 'inside woman'," said Chloe sourly.

"Let's just leave..." said Matt before, at no response, yelled in her ear "NOW!"

"OW! Careful, these radar dishes are pretty sensitive," said Chloe, rubbing her ear.

"Then move it or lose it. We're gonna find Ghoulwyrm and re-arrange his limbs till he gives back the city," said Matt, annoyed.

"Better find Chris first," said Chloe, "He's probably not that far from here."

"Fine, I might have someone on the inside though," said Matt.

"And who would that be?" asked Chloe.

"A gargoyle, I think they're like the ones we met in the other New York, just misguided," said Matt.

Chloe glanced out the door and towards the hallway and asked, "Is that him?"

"Grab him!" snapped Matt.

...

Nicolas headed down the passage, having been sent to relieve the guard near the human when he heard Ghoulwyrm's second-in-command calling to him. Nicolas found it a little odd that she would be down here, but it wasn't his place to question. He walked in...and was grabbed and pulled out of corridor sight by someone saying "Come on. We gotta talk."

Nicolas was surprised when he saw the human out of the cage. "How did you get out?" he asked.

"No, I'd be asking myself 'How screwed am I' right now if I were you," said Matt, kicking the door shut.

"What do you mean?" asked Nicolas.

"Well, it depends, how loyal to your boss are you?" asked Matt.

"I'm not so sure. I mean, he gave me life, but I heard about how he was going to replace us gargoyles. I feel like I should do something, but I'm not sure what," said Nicolas.

"Help us kick his arse?" suggested Matt innocently.

"Us?" asked Nicolas.

"Me, my team who are no doubt planning a rescue, my sis here," said Matt, pointing to Chloe who was facepalming from embarrassment.

"I thought she was on Ghoulwyrm's side," said Nicolas.

"It's called 'defecting'," said Matt, "Not exactly a good thing, but definitely in this case."

Chloe nodded, "It's true. Now are you helping us or do we wait for morning and make a rock garden?"

Nicolas thought hard about this before saying, "I don't want to die, but how do you intend to overthrow Ghoulwyrm?"

"We pull the plug on this spell...whatever it is he's using," said Matt.

"That...that would take great magic," said Nicolas.

"No, we just cut his head off and flush it down the bog," said Matt

"It's more involved than that," said Chloe, "Ghoulwyrm has a legally and magically binding contract. The city is rightfully his and I don't think chopping his head off will fix it."

"It'd slow him down while I burn the contract," suggested Matt.

Chloe sighed and said, "Let's just get out of here and meet up with the others. After springing Chris first."

"Where is he anyway?" asked Matt.

"The kennels," said Nicolas.

"Why would he be in the...oh boy," said Matt.

"There are a few times where his being a werewolf is pretty annoying," said Chloe.

"Fine, let's go get him," said Matt before stopping and looking at Nicolas, "but first...your answer?"

"I suppose I don't have much of a choice. I'm going with you," said Nicolas.

"Good boy, now let's go," said Matt, looking in a cabinet and finding his blaster.

"Aren't we going to let her out too?" asked Nicolas, pointing at Kala who was still trying to claw Matt.

"I don't think so, not till she stops wanting to drain me drier than the Acheron Desert," said Matt before the door opened and a troll warrior, investigating the noise came in...and was grabbed by Matt and pushed into range of Kala.

"Time to go," said Chloe as she and the other two promptly walked out of the room, ignoring the troll's cries for help.

"Hey, she needed a bite to eat." Mat said, before seeing their glares, "What?"

...

Finding the kennels was pretty easy. Once they were on the right floor, they just had to follow the sound of barking. Matt looked at the door, peering through the tiny window to see several guards. "Allow me," he said, making a motion to kick it despite the others horrified looks...before knocking politely.

Presently, an answer came from a gruff voice saying, "What do you want?"

"Need to get in, I've escaped and am all unarmed and tasty," said Matt in an overly innocent voice that any minion with a brain would know was a trick. Sadly the guards weren't any minion.

"It's about time we got some excitement," said the voice as the lock was being unlocked from the other side.

The guard opened the door and was vaporized by a disrupter blast, causing the others to turn in shock. "Hi, I'm the escaped gun nut," said Matt manically before opening fire on them. A few seconds later, Matt called, "Ok, the ash is cool enough, you can come in now."

Nicolas had to be pulled in by Chloe who said to Matt, "I see you haven't lost your touch."

"Of course, have I ever shown any sign of losing it?" asked Matt.

Chloe said bluntly, "Yes...and you snap as regularly as a cuckoo clock."

Matt gave her an annoyed look before saying, "Let's just get Chris."

The trio looked around the various kennels, keeping their distance to avoid being grabbed. "Hey Chris, here boy," called Matt, unable to resist. There was much barking from the kennels' occupants, mainly hellhounds. Matt looked around till he got to the werewolf kennels. "Oh, more than one, any bright ideas?" he said

"Maybe you should do something that he would react to in particular," said Nicolas, "You know, aggravate him somehow."

Matt thought before getting a mischievous look on his face. "Matt, what are you thinking?" demanded Chloe.

Matt cleared his throat and began singing "Chloe and Chris, sitting in a tree...K-I-S-S-I-N-ARRRGH!" before being tackled by both Chloe and one of the werewolves who literally tore his cell apart to reach Matt.

Nicolas said cheerfully, "Hey, there he is...erm...you can probably stop now...hello? Oooooh boy."

...

Eventually, when Leyton's men had evacuated the kids from the school and taken them to safety, they rendezvous back at the tunnel. Chloe was waiting for them with Matt, Chris, and a gargoyle. Though Matt was sporting quite a few bandages.

"What the hell happened to you?" said Techo in an amused voice before being punched

"Let's just say that Chris wasn't easy to get and leave it at that," said Matt sourly.

Techo said in an annoyed tone, "Fine, what's our plan?"

"Well, we may be able to overpower Ghoulwyrm's troops, but as long as he has that contract, we can't change the city back," said Chip, "That's why we have Megan working on a certain spell."

Matt said, "What kinda spell?"

"Well, I'd tell you, but then you'd want to go sticking your nose in and this spell requires as little background noise as possible," said Chip, "Besides, you remember what happened the last time you interrupted Megan's spell."

Matt stopped and went pale. "Oh yes, it's etched in my memory," he said faintly.

"Good, but the lass says the spell would have its best effect it were right in front of that skeletal dragon himself, preferably while he's holdin' that bloody deed," said Leyton.

"Hmmm...so we need some way to get his attention," said Matt thoughtfully.

"It would seem easier than just storming the citadel, but I doubt he'd just fly out when he has so many troops," said Chloe.

"Like he has anything that he can be assured can mangle us...does he?" said Matt, adding the last part at Chloe,

"Well, I think Ghoulwyrm was planning on waiting until after the UN meeting before he fully militarizes," said Chloe, "He has skeleton troopers, his cockatrices, myosquitos, and probably some other undead stuff. I think he was relying mostly on all technology being disabled and NSC being frozen over."

"Why not call in support? If the council hears about this, they'll probably dispatch DARKRIFT," said Matt.

"Unfortunately, Ghoulwyrm's spell keeps what little communication tech survived his takeover from communicating outside the city. I've tried sending an email to Hawaii, but it won't go through," said Chip.

"Our comms should still work," suggested Techo, turning on his comm and being grabbed by a zombie hand that emerged which proceeded to write 'No servitude, no service' on him in permanent ink.

"Huh, all I got was a 'stinky cheese' virus," said Chip, "Of course, it was easy for me to disarm it before it could do anything to me."

"Ok, so we can't call in backup, what about thawing out the local merc offices...even...urgh...Black 13," said Matt

"That ice is enchanted, lad. We were lucky Chip was close enough to the surface for us to chip him out," said Leyton.

What about the teams who were above ground?" said Matt.

"Well, everyone who wasn't in the base didn't get frozen, but they didn't last long without their tech," said Leyton.

"Crap..." muttered Matt.

"I'm a little surprised they were able to capture those guys," said Chip, "I thought Black 13 was supposed to be one of the most professional mercenary companies."

On cue, a hail of blue blasts shot through a window, striking a CPS trooper who dissolved to dust. "C'mon out, CPS...you gotta lot to answer for," came a cry from outside.

"You have got to be kidding," muttered Matt.

"Is that you, Lynch? What bloody book didja read this time? You caused a damn zombie apocalypse," came another voice from outside.

"I had nothing to do with it, it was the stupid dracolich!" yelled Matt.

"Bullcrap, come out here so we can kick the shit outta you," said a female voice.

"Old friends of yours?" asked Chip.

"Never met em...maybe they were on Balwak, we never did get them all," commented Matt before a plasma blast hit. "I'd say so. THIS ISN'T MY FAULT YOU MORONS!" he said, yelling out the window and being knocked on his arse by another blast.

"Do we really want to team up with these guys? They seem less than...courteous," said Chip.

"Last I saw of Disperce's HQ on Liberty Island, it was an iceberg, them or nothing," commented Leyton.

"Oh, fine, let's run out the white flag, it'll give them another target," said Chip sarcastically.

Matt peered out, his face singed from the blast. "Hey, for once it wasn't me. I was out of the city." Matt could see that the Black 13 team was particularly well-armed. They even seemed to have an Atlantean grav tank, though couldn't imagine where they could have gotten one.

"We're dead," he commented simply as the gun rotated to aim before a voice said "Stand down, lads."

"Really? You guys believe me?" asked Matt.

"You're an idiot and a bad liar. No way you coulda sounded that believable," came the reply.

Matt glared as he heard a few chuckles behind him "Right...well, I suppose you'll be wanting payback on the corpse dragon that deep-frozen your place," said Matt.

"Heck yeah. Now where is he?" said the reply.

"At the top of the citadel that used to be the Empire State Building. You can't miss it," said Matt.

The door to the gang's impromptu hideout opened at that and a group of mercs in black armor walked in as if they owned the place.

"Oy, this better not end like that last meeting," muttered Leyton.

"So, this is Lynch, the guy who smoked Capt Dante," said the leader, eyeing Matt with a contempt voice.

"Actually, that was-" started Techo before Matt kicked him in the shin and said, "Vaporized him. Just roasting someone leaves such a mess."

"Bull...everyone knows who really did it," said the merc before adding "And you're leading these..." he began before Matt, shifting to half dragon form, pinned him to the far wall.

"I have bigger things to worry about without your condescending," snarled Matt, "If you want to actually make yourselves useful, then stop acting like a big blowhard and start listening for once!" The merc nodded weakly before Matt let go.

"Now then, if we've all finished our posturing, let's get back to the task at hand," said Leyton.

"So what's the plan? Blow him up?" said an avianos Black 13 marine, the source of the female voice

"He's a dracolich, as in a dragon and a lich. And you know liches can't be easily killed," said Chloe.

"Not that we haven't tried plenty of times," said Matt.

"What about if the bits are on different planets?" said another Black 13 merc darkly.

"Well, I haven't tried that yet, could be fun to try," said Matt.

"Are you really taking advice from them?" asked Chip in astonishment.

"Hey, he can't pull himself together if he can't find the bits...ok, fine stupid idea. Anyone got an ACTUAL idea?" said Matt.

"If you were actually listening, you'd know that I have a plan that will undo Ghoulwyrm's deed instead of just focusing on blowing him up which will amount to nothing," said Chip.

"Can we still blow him up?" asked one of the Black 13 mercs.

Chip groaned and muttered, "I swear the wits around here are as sharp as an eraser."

One of the mercs said, "I get it, we destroy the contract and everything's null and void."

"Well, yes, but Ghoulwyrm's probably ironed it for possible loopholes, but if I'm guessing correctly, Megan will be able to conjure up a claim dispute," said Chip, "But it'll work best when right in front of Ghoulwyrm and his contract. But would it be easier to storm his citadel or to lure him to us?"

"Wait, we're gonna use...urgh...lawyers on him?" said another merc.

"Not exactly, but if it works, we'll have the contract backfire right at Ghoulwyrm," said Chip.

"Fine, we just need a reason to...where's Lynch gone?" said Leyton.

...

Ghoulwyrm was out on the balcony of his citadel looking down at his city. Conquering New York was a big step, but once he had the UN under his control, the rest of the world will follow. But still, a few nagging thoughts were itching at his mind. Where had Chloe gone off to? Where had all the gargoyles gone? Where was that whistling sound coming from?

He looked up to see a sadly familiar blue disc buzzing merrily towards him. "Oh, not again," he moaned before he got a familiar loose feeling around the neck area and his head fell over the balcony. Fortunately, a few trailing tentacles managed to latch onto the rail before his head could fall any further. "Lynch, can you please stop this incessant beheading thing? It was funny maybe the first three times, but you've overplayed it. Couldn't you do something else for once?" he griped as he pulled up his head and put it back on.

Matt called, "Then come and get me. I've seen scarier monsters on Sesame Street."

Ghoulwyrm jumped up angrily at that...before two slashes removed his arms, which Matt grabbed and ran off with. "HEY...NO DISARMING!" yelled Ghoulwyrm, flying after him as best he could.

"You want them back, you gotta catch me," taunted Matt.

After a minute, Matt noticed the chase wasn't as loud as he expected, so he turned to see Ghoulwyrm limping after him. "This could take a while," he muttered before walking.

Suddenly, Matt heard a high-pitched squeaking sound. He glanced upward to see a little red bat flying overhead. "Might have known Ghoulwyrm would have more bats in the city," said Matt. The bat started circling Matt's head like an angry squeaking planet. "Shoo...bugger off, fuzzy," said Matt, waving at it.

"GIVE ME BACK MY WINGS!" yelled Ghoulwyrm, a little closer now. Apparently, he had caught a good tailwind as he starting to gain on Matt.

Matt settled for running again.

…

Eventually, Matt had gotten back to where the others were, though it took a bit longer than he would have liked due to having to wait for Ghoulwyrm to keep up and having to shoo away the bat every 10 seconds. "Ok, he's behind me, are we ready? What?" he said, noticing the others looking at his 'bait'.

"You took his arms?" asked Chip, a little queasy.

"We do the same to you when you won't take a bath," said Matt.

"No, we use them to lure Weirdwolf when he won't take a bath," said Techo.

"Oh, right."

The bat swooped down again, forcing Matt to duck and the bat to hit a wall with a 'splat' and a bleh noise. "Made a new friend?" asked Chloe.

"It's been following me across town," said Matt before suddenly the bat flew at him again and managed to latch onto the top of his head. "Ah! It's trying to make a nest in my hair!" yelled Matt.

"That's an old wife's tale," said Techo.

"Not that his hair doesn't already look like a bat's nest," said Chloe.

Matt suddenly stopped and felt a nip on his head. "It's eating my BRAIN...ARRRRGH!" he yelled.

"Poor little thing's gonna get food poisoning," said Chloe.

Matt glared at them at that before pulling the bat out his hair and punting it back into the wall where it made another bleh noise. "Funny, I didn't think vampire bats were that shade of...duh," said Chip slapping his forehead with a clang.

"What?" asked Matt, peeling the dazed bat off the wall where its eyes rattled as they span.

As soon as the eyes stopped rolling, they focused on Matt. The bat hissed and was about to go for his neck when Chip slapped a capture container around it. "Got her," said Chip.

"Oh no, it's not who I think it is...is it?" said Matt.

"Well, there is one way to find out for certain, but you probably don't want to be right next to her," said Megan.

Matt ran for it at those words, slamming the door open and knocking the arriving Ghoulwyrm out.

"Er, which spell should I do first?" asked Megan.

"I think the one we talked about would be better," said Chip.

On cue one of Ghoulwyrm's arms punched Matt in the face. The other arm was swinging out bandage tendrils at anyone too close to it. As soon it had enough space, it flipped onto its fingers and started scuttling towards the door.

Sadly, the angry Ghoulwyrm sabotaged its efforts, kicking the door back open and squashing it behind the door. "RIGHT...NOW...hey, who are all these mercs?" he asked, noticing the surprised groups. "Oh, and I was having such a good day..." moaned Ghoulwyrm right before the Black 13 mercs pointed their guns at him.

Matt and the others and even the remaining arm watched (how the arm did it nobody wanted to know) until Ghoulwyrm fell over with an 'argh' noise. "Ok...so we got him now, what next?" said Matt, in a high pitched voice (cause of where the arm had punched him the second time).

Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder as the arms were pulled back towards Ghoulwyrm. There was a flash of lightning before Ghoulwyrm stood before them fully assembled. "You dare to mock the lord and ruler of this city?!" snarled Ghoulwyrm. On cue a plasma bolt knocked his head off. "Ow...should have expected that," he groaned.

"You're not the lord of anything, let alone this city," said Matt.

"Oh no?" said Ghoulwyrm as he reattached his head, "I have the deed that says I have the legal and magical right to this city and all in it." He held up the glowing golden parchment as proof.

Matt took it off Ghoulwyrm and looked at it. "I see a loophole," he said before plasma blasting it. However, the plasma blast reflected off the parchment and right back at Matt.

"You see, it's legally binding. And there's nothing you can do to break it," said Ghoulwyrm. He smirked before staring at Matt and getting into a tug of war with him, given that Matt was now trying to eat the parchment.

"Ok, while we wait for Matt to realize that document won't tear so easily, what's our next move?" asked Chloe.

"Well, I'd rather have Ghoulwyrm's attention for the next part so...I guess we can just wait until they're finished?" suggested Chip.

There was a cry of "Stop that, you're getting it damp you idiot."

"If Matt doesn't stop soon, I may have to get the spritzer," said Chloe.

There was a whacking noise and Ghoulwyrm came back, looking tired. "Ok...I...got it...I'm...still the...boss," he panted.

"Ok, now that we're getting back to business, would you mind explaining how that contract gives you control of the city?" asked Chip.

"Well, it's quite simple. When the Europeans settled here, they conned the natives into selling their land for a few beads, which I have," said Ghoulwyrm smugly.

"Oh, you mean these natives?" asked Megan before smashing a jar of blue gas on the ground. The gas quickly grew and rose up, forming into the images of several angry-looking Indians.

"Who has taken our land?" came the echoing voice of their chief.

Matt pointed at Ghoulwyrm. "He did," he said childishly.

Ghoulwyrm spun to glare at Matt before looking back. "Now then, let's not be-OW! Hey! That's uncalled OW!" he said as the Indians began hitting him.

"Summonin' the spirits of the cheated natives, now that's clever, lass," said Leyton.

"I had a feeling they'd have a dispute against this deed, especially those are their beads," said Chip.

"CALL THEM OFF...UNCLE! UNCLE!" screamed Ghoulwyrm as one spirit tried with some success to scalp him while the others held him in an armlock.

"Sorry, I don't think we have any right to deny them their overdue vengeance," said Megan.

Then the chief held up a string of beads and called, "Our rightful property has been returned!" The other Native American spirits cheered at that.

"They just wanted the beads?" asked Techo.

"Just be glad they aren't demanding their land back," said Megan.

"Why would we want the land? We're dead, you idiot," said one of them.

"Uh, sure, thanks for the help," said Megan.

"The group vanished taking the beads with them as Ghoulwyrm reattached his missing parts. "Ok...now let's not be hasty," he said, backing up, gulping as Matt, slowly, tore the parchment in half

Suddenly, the air around them started to ripple. "Uh, what's going on?" asked Chloe.

"Reality's being reset, get ready for some whiplash," said Megan. The parchment halves glowed brightly for a second before disintegrating. Then everything became whited out against a bright light.

Matt was first up to see the warehouse now looked new...and also appeared to be a National Guard armory, to Ghoulwyrm's horror. "You wouldn't," he said horrified.

"I wouldn't bother, the sun's out," said Megan, pointing upwards at the clear sky. Presently, smoke started to come off of Ghoulwyrm.

"Ow...OWOWOWOWOWOW!" yelled Ghoulwyrm before there was a boom and he was sent through the wall.

The group turned to see Matt driving an Abrams tank forward. "Just taking it for a test drive," said Matt.

"Matt, we have plenty of tanks at base, better ones than that," said Chloe.

Matt peered out the top to see Chloe was back to normal. "Sweet, let's shoot him again to celebrate," he said before hearing a muffled groan from the capture container. Matt looked down at it to see Kala stuffed inside it in an incredibly uncomfortable and physically impossible-looking position. "Erm...Chip, you open that, I'm not here," he said, closing the hatch on the tank as he predicted imminent pain.

"Hmm, this is going to be tricky," said Chip before opening the container.

With a bit of shaking, Kala slid out, but she was still in the shape of the container. "Can't...move..." she groaned.

"Uh, I think we better let Contrinus take care of her," called Chip.

...

Sometime later, Ghoulwyrm had managed to drag himself to the backup base his minions had set up. He was fortunate that Kala's involuntary contortionism gave him the opportunity to sneak away.

"Master, I fear our plan has been undone," said Chang.

"Really? What was your first hint?" asked Ghoulwyrm sarcastically. Chang stopped at the sudden sarcasm, unable to think of a response. "Thought so...I have...HAD IT WITH THAT TARTARUS DAMNED MERCENARY! I want him GONE! BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!" he snapped before saying in a more reasonable tone, "Ok...ideas?"

"Er, perhaps you could slip dragonsbane into his tea," said Chang.

"He might be British, but I doubt he even touches tea," said Ghoulwyrm, "And you can't poison kr'ta, it's too caustic."

"Why not just atomize the block he's in?" suggested Red

"We don't have the firepower to do so," said Ghoulwyrm, "And getting a bomb near him's going to be tough."

"Maybe you should turn him into a dumb animal or something," said Omnirus.

"Knowing Matt, he'll probably find a way to turn it to his advantage. Bananas, what's your idea?" asked Ghoulwyrm. There was a moment of silence before Ghoulwyrm asked, "Where is Bananas B?"

Chang said, "He ran off when he learnt we were going to use zombies."

Mecha said to himself, "Hmm...oh, I hope some of the cockatrices survived."

"Pity, I wanted something to shoot at," muttered Ghoulwyrm.

"Uh, shouldn't criminal masterminds have a strict 'desertion means death' policy?" asked Omnirus.

"Only if I wanted that annoying little pest around. No one will miss him and his inane and incomprehensible lingo," said Ghoulwyrm.

Omnirus suddenly slammed on the table she was at. "I GOT IT!" she said causing everyone with hearts to have heart attacks.

"You've thought of a way to get rid of the thrice-cursed mercenary?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"Yeah, let's rat him out. That McNeil guy wants him dead, I heard," she said.

"Rat him out? The guy's under house arrest, McNeil knows exactly where to find him," said Ghoulwyrm.

"Yeah...but not how to put him away without the council sicing internal affairs on him." said Omnirus with an evil grin

"And what are you saying we do? Send him an anonymous letter with Matt's bad deeds on it?" asked Ghoulwyrm.

"Why not? I hacked NSC central...and there's no mention of Chloe's...previous job," said Omnirus.

"Let me guess this straight: your plan for our ultimate revenge on the mercenary who has foiled our plans countless times is to tattle on his sister?" said Ghoulwyrm.

"Yeah, he got locked up for falsifying reports before. Imagine covering up his sis's crimes? That or we could just help McNeil get the job he wants..." said Omnirus.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of!" snapped Ghoulwyrm, "If anyone cared about who Chloe was, she'd have been locked up after you sucked out Silvia. You think they wouldn't know she was the Empire's top general? Leyton himself probably signed the pardon. And as for McNeil, I am through kowtowing to others. Besides, he's not important in the grand scheme of..." Ghoulwyrm paused a moment. "Wait, you mean he wants to..." he began before a loose girder fell on him.

During the brief 15 seconds that Ghoulwyrm wasn't fully conscious, a sudden barrage of images hit his mind; a building being blown up by an explosions, soldiers firing indiscriminately, spaceships firing at each other, a flaming woman screaming at the top of her lungs. The last one didn't make sense, being of Red singing 'I did it my way' but he blamed that later on the girder.

As Ghoulwyrm's senses cleared, he picked up Omnirus saying, "...bigger felony than you think. Besides, I heard McNeil is willing to pay big money for any dirt on..."

"Absolutely not, we will have nothing to do with McNeil," said Ghoulwyrm, "In fact, we need to leave New York, immediately."

Mecha sighed. "Running away?" he said before noticing Ghoulwyrm staring at him with a mix of fascination and horror.

"No, I just had a vision. There's going to be a lot of blood spilled in a few days and McNeil's going to be the cause of it. Or maybe he's at the epicenter. Either way, we need to leave if we want to keep out of the crossfire."

Mecha Red opened his mouth before Ghoulwyrm snapped, "Don't even say it. They're never wrong. Just ask the ashen. Oh wait, you CAN'T!" he snapped...before adding for some reason "And stay away from karaoke machines," shuddering.

"The stars have said that a violent overthrow was approaching," said Chang, "I thought it was referring to our plan, but we took over too easily. If Ghoulwyrm's vision is correct, we need to retreat to a safe distance."

"What about the karaoke machine?" said Red, puzzled.

"I have no idea, probably the trauma he suffered today," said Chang.

"Fine..." muttered Red suspiciously.

* * *

And there's the final chapter Ghoulwyrm will be appearing in for this story. As usual, his grand scheme has been thwarted, but this one is really going to make him want to go after the gang for revenge. He may not be able to get another chance soon, but he will be gunning for them at some point. However, the gang are going to have bigger troubles in the future which may make Ghoulwyrm's vengeance insignificant in comparison. You're gonna want to keep an eye out for the last two chapters as there's going to be a lot of turmoil coming up. Until then, please review.

P.S. I wrote out Bananas B because frankly, he's just plain too annoying and I'm pretty sure no one will miss him. Chang will be staying but not him. Whatever became of him is up to you since it won't ever matter.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Two weeks ago…

The Russian tundra is not a hospitable place to any species. Those few animals who survive there are known to be very tough and stalwart. It would also make sense that the dragons who live there are also sturdy so it is rare to see one on the run.

"I must have lost her by now. Vhat have I done to bring her down on me?" muttered the dragon to himself, peering round a corner to check for pursuit. He turned around to see a figure in the shadows before a helmet filtered voice said "Oh, you're just a test run, comrade."

The Russian dragon snarled before sending a column of fire at the figure.

A translucent energy field sprung up, blocking the flame. "Bad boy," said the figure, tauntingly, tossing what looked like a tear gas grenade at the dragon.

The dragon quickly picked up the grenade and prepared to throw it away. The figure just leaned back as several prongs shot out the side of the spike, attaching painfully before lightning began arcing from it, the dragon juddering in place before apparently shifting to human and falling like a puppet with its strings cut. The spikes on the grenade shot back in and an affirmative beep was heard. "Good...perfect," said the figure, picking up the canister and walking out into the St Petersburg street, leaving the lifeless body to freeze.

...

Present

Matt looked at the paper in front of him. He had picked up the newspaper to look at the funnies, but he found something considerably more serious.

The headline was full of how a goblin gang had apparently been wiped out, the papers calling it the return of the Huntclan's 'Chi killer'.

Just then, Chloe walked in and said, "What's the latest news from the grapevine?"

"Sounds like something big is brewing in the underworld, not sure how literal that is yet," said Matt as he handed over the paper.

Chloe looked at it. "This has to be some sick joke. We killed that guy. It was the old CPS director, Colonel Andies, working with this ninja idiots," she said.

"Well, someone's doing it again," said Matt, getting up, "Well, we'd better go report. Call Techo so he can come. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll get an encore."

Chloe smirked and said, "Oh, that was something to remember. I still crack up at those pictures."

...

Jake was already being told what to do should he run into the 'killer' as Matt and his team pulled up.

"Most importantly, young one, never keep your back turned for more than five seconds," said one of the councilors before pausing as Matt's team approached.

"We just shoot traitorous scumbags. That's why Reaper team exists," commented Matt, before Chloe could stop him, instead choosing to sigh.

"Mr. Lynch, I see you are aware of the current crisis," said the Atlantean councilor coldly.

"Yeah...I turned the guy into a colander, I believe," said Matt casually.

"And yet the same modus operandi is being used," said another councilor.

"The colonel was a scumbag. He got all he deserved and the NSC sealed the technology," said Chloe. "Oh please..." said the same councilor, only for Matt to say "Ask the council, it's how we ended up bumping into them..."

...

6 years ago

90 miles outside the New York State line

6 Huey choppers, heavily modified shot through the sky, bearing down on the signal. "Ok, here's what we got, lads and lasses. We finally found the bastards who hit CRC Tech last month. Control's sure that we'll find em. They might also be linked to the Xeno we found in Central Park last night," yelled Captain Leyton over the rotor noise.

"Do we have any idea what kind of xeno that was yet?" asked Techo.

"No, they sent the corpse to Executive Genetics but they've got no idea yet," called Leyton before a voice from the front said "This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving shortly at scumbag central. Make sure your plasma rifles are in the upright and locked positions."

Matt muttered, "Smartarse."

"I've heard worse from you," commented Chloe.

"This is Colonel Andies to all teams. We don't know who owns this facility but we are detecting what we think are energy cells. You run into more then you chew, you scrub and get out of there," said the voice of CPS's current leader.

"Oh, look. The boss has come back from his mountain," muttered Wilson.

"Nice to see he cares about the little guys," said Matt sarcastically.

"Fuck him. All teams stand by. Raptor team...make a door," said Leyton.

...

The Huntsmen on sentry duty all agreed that it was the most boring job around. The facility was so well hidden that nobody could find it if they even stepped on it. "Why must we stand watch while the others are out hunting dragons?" complained one.

"Perhaps you are here because you let that fairy slip through your fingers," teased another one.

"Yeah...what the?" said the first one, looking at a camera feed from the perimeter. A formation of choppers was seen flying overhead, before the same appeared on the next camera. "Hey, call the Huntsmaster. The National Guard is real far out of their way," he said, cautiously.

The second one was checking the other monitors and spotted something in the fourth camera feed. "MISSILE INCOMING!" he shouted.

The ground shook faintly and all the cameras cut out, the lights flickering. "Security alert," chimed the computer, before a camera bank came back, showing the choppers going to hover, one aiming at the main door.

"Sound the ale-" he began before the chopper's 'lockpick' missile hit the ground and blew a brand new skylight in the arena.

If any camera were left functional in the area, they would have seen several lines drop from the camera, allowing troopers to slide down to the ground. Others were just jumping straight out, small booster packs slowing them down to allow them to fire at arriving security.

...

However one team wasn't fighting. "THIS SUCKS!" yelled Matt, the sound of weapon fire in the distance...at least til Chloe hit the mask function on his wrist comp, causing his helmet to slam over him. "Ow, you hurt my nose," mumbled Matt.

"You nearly gave us away. Techo, do we actually know where the damn stuff is, do we actually KNOW what we're looking for?" Chloe snapped

"Uh, I don't know what it looks like, but it should definitely show up on the energy scan," said Techo. Matt held up his wrist comp, showing the energy scanner as a huge signal lump over the entire floorplan. "Oh smeg," muttered Techo.

"Room by room it is," said Matt.

"That could take all night," complained Talia.

"Bloody Col Andies," muttered Techo, opening a door, staring before shutting the door slowly.

"What's in there?" asked Matt.

"Uh...trophy room, I think these guys are really into hunting," said Techo, looking a little sick. Matt walked forward and Techo said, "No...you really do not want to go in there."

Matt looked at the door before stepping back. "Fine," he said before their radio's turned on.

"This is Colonel Andies to all teams. We think you may have more of those Xeno's in the facility. Concider host-" said the colonel before Matt turned the radio off.

"Anyone object to that?" asked Matt.

"Not at all," said Chloe.

"Ok, strongest signal's in here," said Techo, pointing to a door.

What the gang wasn't aware of was that someone else had also infiltrated the base and was watching them from the vents. Sun Park peered into the room Matt and his team were about to 'open', looking in horror at the canisters of dragon chi. Anyone else, she would have wondered what sort of monster could do such a thing...then she saw the Huntsclan squad guarding them. The facility shook again as the new attackers hit another section.

"Ok, let's get these chi canisters out of here," said one of them, none of them bothering to look up at the vent.

As they were moving, one of them said, "Careful, you don't want to break one open and get infected by their unnatural magic."

"Hey...you guys smell burning?" asked one, before they turned to see two dots burning round the edge of the door rapidly.

"Oh shit...GET TO COVER!" called one before the dots met at the top of the door and it exploded, some of the new intruders coming in firing.

Suddenly, one of them yelled, "Whoa, whoa, ease off the ammo, this place is loaded with...uh, something that you might not want to shoot at."

"Hands up. Do it. Do it now!" snapped one of them in a London accent, pointing a futuristic weapon at them. The Huntsclan all complied slowly, one edging towards where his staff was, out of sight.

A woman with a similar accent said, "Wilson, call Leyton and tell him we've found it, whatever it is."

Another trooper, face hidden by a mask and helmet nodded and began talking into his wrist, though the language wasn't recognizable.

"What is this? It smells of life essence...explain," said a particularly tall one, looming over a Huntsman who whimpered.

"Ha, you think we'd be so spineless as to give away our secrets because of a small show of intimidation?" said one of the Huntsclan.

The tall trooper growled causing the Huntsman beneath him to cry, "They're full of dragon chi, please don't eat me!"

The trooper glared, grasped the Huntman's head like some claw machine and effortlessly lifted him to eye sight. "Do I look like a fool?" he said coldly.

"Which answer do you want sir?" gibbered his victim before fainting

There was a faint snickering sound and the woman turned to another trooper and said, "Ok, grow up, Matt."

"That wasn't me," said the trooper.

"Sure it wasn't," said the woman.

"You really think we're that dumb?" said the first trooper, "Dragons aren't real and even if they were, they're reptiles so you couldn't make milk to make cheese with."

The Huntsclan gave a deadpan looks as if to say 'Really?', The woman, guessing said, "I live with him. I know how you feel. Now please keep your hands up or we'll blow your heads off. Hey you, back here." aiming at the huntsman inching towards his staff.

The Huntsman looked uncertain, clearly considering whether going for the staff is really worth it. "Ok...take these things back," began Matt.

That seemed to be the deciding factor for the Huntsman. "You will not ruin our work," he said before diving for his staff.

"What the hell?" began the leader, before having to dive to the side as the Huntman's staff fired. Sun turned her head away as the sound of weapon fire was heard before a stray blast knocked her out.

...

Eventually, Sun came back around. As soon as she was able to focus, she could see that a battle had gone on while she was out. The troopers seemed to have lost a few men but none of the Huntsclan had survived. "Oh..." said Sun. Even though she had no love for the Huntsclan like the rest of the magical world, she still hated killing.

A radio on the trooper crackled at that. "This is Commander Anakra of DARKRIFT. We are now in command of the operation. All CPS units are to return to base. This is an Alpha class order on behalf of the council. My men are moving in...any CPS staff still on sight will be classed as hostile," said a cold calculating voice.

"Then I don't have any time to lose," said Sun. She quickly started looking among the chi canisters. Fortunately, the Huntsclan have labeled where the chi had come from. But when she got to the spot she was looking for, it was missing.

...

Meanwhile, Matt and his team were running back to the chopper. "How comes I have to hold the radioactive lava lamp?" complained Techo.

"Cause you still owe us money at poker, that's why," snapped Matt, turning the corner and having to jump back as several blasts shot past.

"Don't let the dragon lovers escape!" came a yell.

"Colonel, call DARKIFT off, our way out's blocked!" shouted Matt into the coms, firing blindly round the corner

"All this for a smelly can of cheese?" asked Techo.

"SHUT UP, TECHO!" came the unified yell before Matt tried again. "COLONEL...WE NEED TIME TO GET OUT!"

"Damn it, Lynch, you aren't supposed to be on time!" snapped the colonel.

"Wait...what?" said Matt, confused, "What are you talking about?" However, all Matt got was a flat tone. "He hung up on me! The smegging git hung up on me!" yelled Matt.

"What did he bloody mean by on time? Shit, we gotta go to plan B. DARKRIFT'S 3 minutes away," said Chloe, before looking up. "Helibay, this way," she said, pointing.

Sun finally got back to the entrance and spotted the troopers. She could also see one of them holding the chi canister. "Wait!" she called. However, one of them screamed and shot back at Sun.

"WILSON, MOVE IT!" came a cry.

"But there's a-"

"NOW!" said the female voice as he tried to interrupt

Sun was lucky that the shot had missed her, but she couldn't let that chi go. She ran after them and saw them climb into a chopper. "No, wait!" she called, taking off after them, trying to grab on to climb in.

...

"Argh…it's all over me...lava lamp goo!" yelped Techio as the clank made him drop the canister on himself.

"Great, you are now the sample," snapped Matt, peering back to see the xeno hanging on. "Raptor team, you still around?" he said on the comm

"Lynch, what are you still doing back there? You should have got out 3 minutes ago," came the reply.

"We had trouble with transport, smartarse. NOW GET THIS THING OFF US!" snapped Matt.

"Alright, alright, we're coming, keep your pants on," came the reply.

The chopper shook again as the xeno tried to grab the tail and a smash from behind indicated the rest of the canister was now all over Techo. "ANY TIME TODAY!" screamed Matt

"Oh...oh god, this isn't cheese, this isn't cheese at all!" cried Techo.

"RAPTOOOOR!" screamed Matt before ion rounds shot around the xeno as Raptor 3 flew in behind, its sideguns blazing. The xeno quickly let go and flew away from Raptor 3.

"You are free and clear, Lynch. See you back at base," said the reply.

"Ugh, I'm gonna need 10 decon showers to get rid of this feeling," groaned Techo.

"Oh shut it," said Talia.

...

Present day

"So you fired at one of us and stole chi?" said the Atlantean councilor coldly.

"We didn't know she was a dragon and we didn't even know what chi was," said Chloe.

"Councilor, calm. They were unaware at the time..." said one of the dragon councilors

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up, are you guys telling me that Sun was some super-secret agent?" asked Jake.

"All dragons are expected to perform their duties as guardians of the magical world," said the European councilor, "Since this was before your dragon powers start manifesting, Sun Park was taking care of this mission."

"Ok, but why Sun doing that mission instead of Gramps or someone else?" asked Jake.

"Because the matter was rather...personal," said the African councilor.

...

Sun looked up, the choppers vanishing over the treeline. "Urgh...who were those?" she muttered, before taking a picture out. The picture showed Sun along with a slightly younger woman with an undeniable resemblance to her. "I won't let you down, my sister," said Sun softly.

With a little difficulty, she took off again but the choppers were already dots heading for New York State. "I can't let them get away," she told herself, "Who knows what they're going to do with her chi." She followed the choppers, barely able to keep up before the choppers vanished into the maze of skyscrapers, heading for the dockyards.

Sun was close to the verge of panicking when she paused and muttered a few mantras to calm herself. Once her mind was at relative peace, she started pondering where the copters would go. The docks seem obvious, but the obvious choice isn't always the right one.

The choppers could be heard from the docks, flying round the corner to see the Huntsclan chopper shooting down into an open-topped warehouse far too fast.

She flew quickly to the warehouse, but the hatch slammed shut before she could get in.

More strangely though, there was nobody around the warehouse No lights and no sounds of choppers.

"Hmm...I don't recall the Huntsclan ever being this good at being secretive," muttered Sun.

She looked around before sighing. She would have to check tomorrow. If this was Huntsclan, there would have been guards. This was something else. She could sense the chi, it was there.

...

Present day

"Wait a minute, you said that the chi canister was broken on your friend," said the African councilor, "But then that would mean..." Matt suddenly started laughing his head off at that.

...

The morning following the attack...

The CPS barracks were usually peaceful, anyone trying to wake mercs early making their final mistake, however today a blood curdling scream broke the quiet

Matt grumbled as he got up and said, "Unless someone's played a really funny prank, I'm gonna have to dent some foreheads."

Matt wandered over to where the scream had come from, the restroom which now had a weld where the lock was, from a laser. "Ok, come out, who's locked themselves in the loo?" he said, knocking.

"GO AWAY!" yelled someone from inside.

"Techo? Techo, open the door, NOW!" said Matt, recognizing the voice.

"NO!" yelled Techo.

"Open it or I will!" snapped Matt

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" yelled Techo.

"Fine, GET THE C4!" said Matt, yelling the last part theatrically loud

"Whoa, whoa, you're not blowing up the door, are you?" called Techo.

"You refused to open it," said Matt, pulling some silly putty out his pocket and slamming it onto the door.

"Ok, ok, I'll open up, but promise me one thing," said Techo.

"What's that?" asked Matt.

"That you won't laugh."

"Not a chance. Open up or I'll turn off the vents. It was curry night in the canteen last night. You'll suffocate," said Matt, stepping back as there was a flash and the door came loose. "Ok...get the crow-" began Matt, calling to some of the watching mercs to get the door open only for claws to grab the door through the sliver and pull it open effortlessly.

Techo didn't quite look like his normal self. His skin was covered in seafoam-colored scales and his hands were sporting claws. He couldn't wear shoes because his feet had become digigrade and clawed as well. Techo glared at them and said, "No laughing."

Matt was surprisingly the only one who DIDN'T laugh, just staring. "Techo, you haven't been eating anything...odd, have you?" asked Matt.

"Did I eat any genetic serums? No, it's not meatloaf day till Friday," said Techo sulkily.

"Ok, let's try to look at this logically," said Matt before turning the laughing others and said, "Can you keep it down?"

Techo's eyes narrowed. "That bloody goop...THAT DID THIS! I'LL KILL THOSE NINJA JERKS!" snapped Techo.

"I was about to suggest that same thing," said Matt.

"Now what?" moaned Techo.

"Well...it's probably some mutagen they cooked up. Wait, didn't another one attack us on the way out?" asked Matt.

"I didn't see, I was too busy holding onto the stupid can," growled Techo.

"I remember it...almost looked like you," said Wilson, smirking.

"Could have been someone else who got doused in that goop and probably went feral," said Talia.

"Dunno...it was actively going to essential systems on the chopper. We checked after landing," said a merc.

"Well, in either case, it may be the key to fixing...this," said Chloe, indicating Techo.

"A patient zero, you realize the Colonel'll lock Techo in quarantine the minute he gets wind of this, right?" said Talia.

"Which is why we have helmets and gloves," said Matt before shoving a helmet over Techo's head.

"And the boots? And something's poking me up the arse..." snapped Techo, muffled.

"I ain't touching that," said Wilson.

"Screw you, let's just find the feral, kick its arse and toss it to the techies so they can cure this," said Techo, angrily.

Chloe sighed and said, "Another good morning at CPS."

...

Present Day

Just then, the door opened and Sun Park walked in. "You wished to see me, Councilors?" she asked. "Hey, Sun, we were just reminiscing old times, like when we first me," said Matt.

Sun sighed, remembering...

...

Sun was sitting in the room she had rented upon arriving in the US. She had tried asking members of the local magical community who owned the warehouses near the river, but not even the council had found out much other than it was not the Huntsclan. The Council did send her a message, but it was ordering her to return to Korea. But something didn't seem quite right about it...

...

"Who's Humvee is this, out of interest?" asked Chloe, the group driving down Broadway.

Matt shrugged and said, "Andie's."

There was silence for a second before everyone shrugged, Matt 'accidentally' shooting the radio as it beeped, showing 'Col Andies' as the incoming caller

"So, have we got that tracker working yet?" asked Chloe.

"Almost, thanks for the blood sample, Techo," said Talia, Techo just grumbling.

"A big blue lizard thing's bound to stick out anyways," said Wilson.

"Ok, should get a single...bloody hell, there's hundreds of signals, look," said Techo, passing the scanner

Matt looked to see a map of New York lit up like a Christmas tree. "Smeg, how are we supposed to find the one from last night?" he said.

"I could scale it down, but it'll take a biiit...ok, done," said Techo, fiddling with the signal and causing almost all the dots to vanish.

"Great, which one's the one we want?" asked Talia.

"The best match is some out of the way apartment block in Harland," said Techo, prodding the screen with his claw before twitching.

"Techo, are you feeling alright?" asked Chloe.

"I'm fi-gik, gak, duik!" yelped Techo as he started spasming. Suddenly, a pair of antler-like horns sprouted from his head.

Matt did laugh this time.

…

Outside, a guy was watching as what looked like a military Humvee started swerving all over the road. "Huh...National Guards on a celebration drink," he muttered. Just then, the Humvee started swerving dangerously close to where he was standing.

"Oh no," muttered the cop, closing his eyes before opening them again to see his bike had become alot flatter, the Humvee careening around the corner, taking out a trashcan. "Great, how am I supposed to catch them without my bike?" he asked.

...

"GIVE ME THE WHEEL! YOU'VE ALREADY TAKEN OUT A MOTORBIKE!" yelled Chloe.

"Killjoy," grumbled Matt.

Techo, his claws digging THROUGH the seat said weakly, "Are we nearly there?"

"Almost," said Talia, "Just a few more blocks."

...

Donald was a leprechaun from the 'old country', and also ran one of the few hotels in New York, though more and more magical creatures headed to the big apple each year...mostly criminals trying to find an area without council jurisdiction. However, he's seen new guests arrive in many vehicles, a military jeep was quite another thing.

"-you sure it's in here, Techo?" said a voice before several humans climbed out, a Korean dragon with what looked like a cyborg arm, also getting out.

"No, but I'm pretty sure it's the best place to start looking," said the dragon.

"Ok, we got the picture? What, it's worth a try," said the leader, as the group walked forward.

"What ken I do ya for?" asked Donald in his most genial tone possible.

"We're looking for someone, have you seen this alien?" said Matt, hopping suddenly with a yelp, a female human pushing him aside

"Er, I don't know what ye've heard, but no illegal immigrants here. No need ta be deportin' anyone," said Donald.

"We mean actual aliens...OW!" said the weird human, the woman smiling a bit desperately. "Ok, look, have you seen someone looking like Exhibit A over there? Judging by the fact you didn't call 911, you know it," she said, jerking a thumb at the dragon.

"Miss, I be a simple innkeeper. I don't go pryin' inta the affairs of me customers," said Donald.

"Hang on, I got a definite signal," said another woman.

Donald gulped. "Yer Huntsclan. Have mercy!" he yelped, causing the group to exchange glances.

"Who?" said the leader.

"Er, ye ain't here to hunt magical creatures?" asked Donald.

"Magical creatures? Yeah right, like they even exist," said another man.

"Er...ye don't notice anyting weird aboot yer friend there?" said Donald carefully.

"Well, I'm pretty sure these aren't for receiving TV transmissions," said the leader, flicking one of the dragon's antlers.

Donald muttered, "Buncha basketcases..." before saying loudly "Ok...I tink I know that room. Room 414...Miss Park. Shall I tell her you're comin?" he said.

"No, no, she already knows us," said the leader.

"I'm sure she does." said Donald. As soon as the team had left, Donald grabbed the phone and punched in a number. "Hey, Fu? It's me, Donald. I've got a wager I'm bettin' ya wanna get in on."

...

The lift doors to the 4th floor opened...well, tried too. It took the efforts of both Matt and Wilson to open it before the team spread out down the corridor. "Ok, I think it's quite clear this thing's sentient," said Matt quietly as they headed down the corridor, blasters out.

"Perhaps we may be able to reason with her instead of shooting up the place for once," said Chloe.

"Ok, keep the guns concealed," said Matt, nodding to the others, before typing a few buttons on his wrist comp, his uniform changing to that of a NYPD uniform, "We'll take the 'we need to ask some questions at the station' approach."

"Which she won't believe if she spots your scaly hide," said Talia to Techo.

"Fine, I'll be over there...ow...owowowowow!" he said, getting the twitches again.

"Oh boy," said Matt dully.

Just then, the door on Room 414 started opening.

"Hello...Officer Lynch with the NYPD. We've had some reports of break in's in your area and we're doing checks in the worst hit areas to make sure the homeowners are aware and making the relevant security precautions," said Matt in an almost perfect American accent, causing the hidden gang's jaws to drop open, given Matt's usual stealth track record.

Chloe fumbled for her hologram disguise and just got in activated when Matt dragged her into view. "This is my partner," said Matt, "She'll be doing a brief security check around your room."

Chloe noticed that the figure was a Korean woman, in her late twenties maybe, though her bio scanner nanites were having trouble locking on. "That's right ma'am. Mostly checking locks, windows...possible access points," she said with a warm smile.

The Korean woman gave them a slightly suspicious look before saying, "Well, I would be able to sleep easier at night if I know I'd be safe from burglars."

"Of course, Ma'am. This is just routine," Matt said, covertly pressing a button on his wrist comp, getting it to do a proper scan. "So, how long have you been living in the area, Miss..." he said remembering to leave a gap for her name, the scan's progress bar appearing on his glasses HUD.

"It's Miss Park, and I have not been here very long or were you aware of that?" demanded the Korean woman, sounding more suspicious.

"Of course. All the more reasons to make this call," said Matt, assuredly, his wrist comp, in a voice only he could hear, saying "Unlisted xeno detected in zone...scanning...pinpointed to local building...isolating." Matt just kept the friendly smile, his hands behind his back, motioning to the others to get ready. He was getting an idea where it was gonna 'pinpoint'.

"If this is routine, than why haven't you gone to the other rooms yet?" demanded Park.

"We like to be thorough, ma'am," said Matt, managing to keep his composure as the scanner locked on to Miss Park.

"Alert...proximity to unlisted xeno. Code Delta. Automatic contract in effect...apprehend ASAP," said the wristcomp.

"Well, if you aren't really here to check on my security, I must bid you good day," said Park before attempting to close the door.

...

Sun tried to push the door when the officer immediately said "Koma asida tima," pulling his pistol and aiming. (splitter for 'hands up sucker)

"Mulleo gala," responded Park before using her dragon strength to slam the door on the officer's fingers. (Korean for 'begone')

Another voice behind her yelled in English "NSC...HANDS UP!" Park turning to see the 'partner, aiming her own pistol. A swift kick from Sun sent the pistol flying out of the partner's hand. It also hit something hidden on her wrist, causing sparks to fly and the uniform to become something out of a sci-fi film, a nastier looking pistol being pulled just as the door opened to see the first 'cop' writhing gripping his hand.

"Hey, try it and you're dead," said an African American trooper, holding a stocker rifle version of the pistol.

However, Sun wasn't nearly as harmless as these people might think she is and she proved it by changing into her dragon form and sending the African across the hallway and through the door on the other side.

Two more troopers were outside, and were forced to dive aside from a fireball. A final voice said, "Ok, don't even move, lady." causing Sun to turn...and pause in shock. What she was a near-spitting image of her sister in dragon form. Of course, there were some big difference like the robotic arm or the fact this dragon was male. But the resemblance was uncanny.

A voice, of the first officer, behind her said, "Good one Techo. Gonna kick that bloody dra...xeno's butt." before, with a 'bzzz' noise, everything went dark.

...

"You shot me?" said Sun, annoyed as Matt filled in the blanks.

"You punched Wilson through a wall into a kitchen. He landed in the fridge," retorted Matt childishly.

Sun gave him an annoyed look and said, "Since I wasn't conscious during the next part, perhaps you'd like to fill in what happened."

"Sure, well, we didn't know what was going on back then. The dragons I met were alot different, so we called you in as a cold delta. That's when things went south. Some men from Cougar Squad were helping and..."

...

"Ok, make sure those energy cuffs are sealed. She's got a kick," said Matt, annoyed and still rubbing his fingers.

"Lynch, this is control. Transport is en-route. ETA is 45 seconds."

Matt nodded. "Good, Mridas, everything clear on the roof?" he asked, talking to the avianos in charge of the Cougar team squad who had arrived to help.

"All clear, not even pigeons to get in the way," said Mridas.

"What? You should be able to see it by now," said Matt, curiously before he noticed a signal approaching. However, the ID was marked as one of Reaper team, the CPS's in-house police force, a team specially formed to take down renegade employees. "Control, please confirm. Reaper 1 is approaching. I thought it was a transport."

"Of course Reaper 1 is approaching, I sent it," came the reply.

Matt gulped and said, "Colone Andies, if this is about your truck..."

"Oh this is about much more than a simple carjacking," said Andies.

"What is it about?" said Matt innocently.

"Well, just you working with vermin, good day," said he Colonel, hanging up suddenly. "Oh...shit...Mridas, get off the roof, NOW!" yelled Matt, not noticing Sun was semi-conscious.

...

Mridas and his men turned as a Ioa class gunship decloaked in front of them. "GET TO CO-" he began before gunship ion miniguns fired and he and his team ceased to exist.

...

"HIT THE DECK!" yelled Matt, as the gunship lowered down, strafing the room and the corridor, some of Cougar squad getting caught in the fire and falling in heaps.

"What the smeg is going on?!" demanded Chloe.

"I think we've been fired!" yelled Mat, shielding Sun as the rounds shredded the apartment. "Techo, hack the comms. I want to know what they're planning...and you said to leave the ion cannon in the car!" he yelled, aiming the last at Chloe

"Like I could have seen this coming?" snapped Chloe.

"I'm just venting!" snapped Matt. Techo however was having a full on panic attack before accidentally burping, sending a fireball out that almost hit Matt, bounced off a wall and shot out, striking the gunship, causing it to peel off.

"Hack complete...comm track online," said Matt's wrist comp, before a voice said "Reaper 1 to control...damage to starboard...deploying teams on the roof. Dead or alive, sir?"

"Dead, make sure there are no witnesses," said Andie's voice.

"Roger that, control. Team 1...deploy...sweep n clear," said the voice before cutting off. At the same time, voices were heard from the far corridor. "Here comes trouble, boss!" yelled Wilson.

...

"Yes, I remember that, vaguely. I mostly remember you all running but I wasn't really sure what it was from," said Sun.

…

There was a soft groan as Park started to come around. "Great, as if we haven't got enough trouble," said Techo.

"Hit her again. We don't need attacks from both directions," snapped Wilson, ducking as several troopers in black armor ran down from the roof.

"My pleasure," said Techo before getting ready to club her with the butt of his gun. Park's hand shot out grabbing Techo's wrist, making him jump. "Oh blooody hell!" he swore, trying to jump back.

"You shall not take me so easily, hunters," said Park. The shattering of another window was heard amidst the gunfire.

"Lady, can this wait until we're not in risk of being made into colanders?" snapped Matt.

A trooper yelled "Targets...end of the hall!" before a blast shot through him. Matt lost it at that, firing a shot around the corner, a yell of 'BOUNCER!" being cut off by multiple ricochet noises.

One of the others peered round the corner once the ricochets had stopped "All clear, let's go," he said, the others getting up.

The one called Matt turned to look at Park. "Cut her loose. We don't need this."

Park glared at Matt and said, "Do you expect me to forgive so easily?"

"No, but I expect you to listen to common sense and survival instinct," said Matt.

Park was a bit shocked at that. Huntsclan had been known to stick to their victims even with the treat of council dragons coming. More so they definitely did not attack their own. A wail got her attention to see the 'gunship' hovering past the window. "Who are you people?" she demanded.

"Introductions later, survival now," said Matt's partner.

Matt said at that, "You're gonna follow us, aren't you."

"I don't have much of a choice in that matter, do I?" said Park, "These...other people seem to not care who they're shooting."

"Fine, just stay down," snapped Matt before yelling "OK, GO!" He and his men jumped up and ran for the stairs, the gunship rotating to brings its guns to bear. Some of them men didn't bother with the steps, either sliding on the rails are jumping down the flights.

Another trooper pushed Park forward before the gunships began firing, shredding the corridor behind them. "Move faster, you dumb xen-urk!" the trooper managed before the hail caught up with him.

Park didn't need any more prompting, she leapt down the stairs, quickly reaching the front of the line.

"The jeep, the bloody jeep!" yelped a trooper in a strong British accent, pointing to a Humvee peering out the opposite alley.

"You think that gas-guzzler will protect us from that thing?" asked Park as the gunship was setting its sights again.

"Looks aren't everything," said the same trooper, pressing a button on his gauntlet and causing the Humvee to cheap as its alarm and locks released. Matt immediately threw the back door open just as the gunship began firing on the jeep, pulling something out just in time

"Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!" yelled Wilson.

"It needs to charge up first!" yelled Matt.

The English trooper paused for a second before yelling "RUN AWAY!" as the gunship, side hatch opened to fire a rocket at the Humvee, blasting it to scrap. The troopers ran in every direction, making them a much harder target for the gunship to lock onto.

Park backed up into the shadows. She needed to tell the council that there was another faction other than the Huntsclan in play in this situation. She was about to change to dragon form when someone grabbed her arm. "Bad idea, lady," said Matt, pulling her back just as the gunship's rotation went past their hiding place.

Park gave Matt a stern look and said, "I'm only going with you because I need to save the dragon chi."

"I presume that's what gave my tech expert a scaly make over. Believe me, he doesn't want them," said Matt dully, peering round the corner, "Ok, let's go. We'll keep to the alleys and head for the city center. That gunship's staying low for a reason."

As Matt and Sun started heading through the alley, Sun said, "Er, shouldn't we..."

"Hey, I know where I'm going," said Matt.

...

"Are you sure you know where we are?" asked Park carefully as the duo stared at the Hudson.

"Yes," lied Matt, "I meant to...uh oh." as the gunship wailed back into view.

"Quick, if we get to the river..." started Sun.

"They blow us out like fish in a barrel," finished Matt for her.

On cue, the tube over Matt's shoulder beeped. "About time...Carnotech are not getting repeat business," muttered Matt, unslinging it.

"What is that?" asked Sun.

"It's a bit too technical to get into at the moment, but let's just calling a big smegging cannon. These smeggers killed my friends and my men. They shot at me, my jeep and blew a hole in my hat. I have had ENOUGH!" said Matt, yelling the last as he fired, a blue blast shooting out and blasting the ship's left engine to pieces, causing the ship to lurch. "Hah, how do you...oh come on," began Matt as the ship's lurch caused it to spin towards them without apparent escape.

Suddenly, Matt felt scaly arms wrap around him as he was suddenly lurched up from the ground. He simply watched as the gunship was flipped into the bay before looking up to see an almost spitting image of Techo's current condition. "I just want it noted. I'm not going to say 'let go of me'. I'm not that stupid," he said, somehow keeping his voice steady.

...

"You always were hopeless with directions," said Chloe.

"Hey, the alleys are a labyrinth, I got turned around," said Matt.

"Oh don't worry, mate. They have these strange devices called 'signs'. HAHAHA...OW!" said Techo, laughing up until Matt punched him.

Chloe grinned, "Ok, but despite that, doesn't change the fact that nobody knows how to recreate the syphon tech."

Techo shrugged, "As long as I don't get scales again..."

"Whoa, whoa, time out, what syphon tech?" asked Jake, "What's all this have to do with now?"

"That was the fun device the first time round, sucks out chi, souls, whatever you want," said Matt grimly.

"Fortunately, if it was only the chi, one could survive, though not for much longer," said Sun.

"Wait, when you guys took my dragon chi..."

"That was a different procedure," said the European councilor, "Delicately applied and leaving enough chi to prevent fading. About the same amount of difference as performing surgery with a scalpel and a cleaver."

"The device however just rips it all out," said Techo grimly.

"Those that were able to survive the shock needed to be put on life support," said the African councilor, "Without their chi, they would, at best, be put into an unending coma."

Suddenly, Matt's comm turned on. "All CPS units, proceed to magi settlement 21-b. Hostage situation in progress. Multiple marauder class units led by unknown hostile. Syphon signal detected in zone." said the comm.

"But you just said..." started Jake.

"I've been proven wrong before," said Matt, "Hopefully I'm not this time, but we better head over anyways."

...

The marauder shuddered back as several blasts ripped through him before he slumped down against the wall. "I don't get this. I know marauders sometimes freelance, but whoever hired them musta known we were local. They musta known they wouldn't last a second," said Techo, kicking the dead marauder. The marauders that had been holding the area had panicked the minute the first CPS units had arrived, not even thinking to use the hostages who had also turned on them. Especially since the 'hostages' were the local werewolves whose karaoke night they had just ruined.

"You don't think we're walking into a trap, do you?" asked Jake.

"No, we'd have picked up anything. I don't like this," said Matt, pausing at the door into the next room, where comm said the gang's leader was.

A female voice said cheerfully, "Aren't you going to come in, sergeant?"

"It's not polite to walk into a lady's room without knocking, especially if the lady isn't decent," said Matt.

"Oh, me and Dago are fine. Isn't that right, Dago?" said a voice, a worrying silence heard.

"That other guy better be gagged or unconscious in there," said Matt.

"Break the door," said Chloe, aiming a hand at one hinge, Matt doing the same with the other before they melted the hinges. A strong kick and the door fell over, everyone pointing their guns through the doorway.

Jake came in second and paused, a female in a dirty CPS uniform and what was...left of a European dragon slumped next to her. "Oh, you're just in time," the woman said with a mad smile.

"You look familiar, have I threatened or arrested you before?" asked Matt.

"No, silly...but you met my father briefly. Don't you remember him?" said the woman, smiling insanely before noticing Jake's stare, "Oh, don't mind Dago, he's shy."

Jake turned to Matt and said, "Uh, you don't think that ex-colonel who was using that Syphon tech had kids, do you?"

"Oh, he did...he did..." said the woman, grinning before saying, "Oh, where are my manners? Diana Andies," making a mocking bow, seemingly not bothered by the fact she was surrounded.

"Well it's obvious who she takes after," said Chloe.

Diana looked around before looking at Techo. "Oh, this won't do. You aren't ready yet," she said to him, sounding annoyed.

"Uh...ready for what?" asked Techo.

"All units, we have an ID: Diana Andies, responsible for a breaking at a DARKRIFT storage center last month," said the comm as Diana pulled out a pieced together crystal that was already glowing from all the anger in the room.

Matt's face paled as he recognized the crystal. "That's impossible. I saw that thing blow out like a light bulb," he said.

"It's amazing what glue can do," said Diana, tossing the gem at Techo and a flash grenade with the other. There was more than a little confusion and chaos as both items went off with a bang.

When his vision came back, Matt immediately was checking his reflection, and sighed with relief when he saw that he was perfectly fine...before glaring around to see that Diana had escaped, leaving a holodisk.

"Oh, not again!" snapped Techo. Matt turned to see that Techo had been turned into a dragon.

"Hey, at least you're not Korean again," said Matt.

Luckily for Jake, Techo chose to swear in splitter. Chloe however had picked up the holodisk which was labeled 'Watch me'. "Hmm...I bet it's full of egomaniacal goodness," said Chloe.

"I'm betting more 'maniacal' than 'ego'," said Matt.

Chloe clicked the disk in and a holo-version of Diana appeared, the voices of her team and someone begging. "Ah...you got my message. I have no doubt you're wondering why...oh, shut that lizard up!" she said, yelling the last to someone off the viewer, a blaster sound cutting off the begging. "Ah, much better," she said.

"Ok, she has a few less voices than her head than I thought," said Matt.

"Well, I could say it's...well, revenge," said the holorecording before the smile vanishing. "You and those...lizards ruined my father's career. You didn't even leave him his life!" she snapped before calming down. "So, it seems right that I finish his work. Oh, I'll give you a chance. You can stop me, if you remember your history right, that is," said Diana before looking over her shoulder as faint gunfire came over the recording. "Oh, I think you're here," she said, grinning evilly before cutting the comm.

"The apple doesn't fall far in her family tree, does it?" commented Matt.

"I dunno, she planned this out perfectly, even down to making sure Techo looks the part," said Chloe, nodding over at Techo who was grumbling in the corner

"Well, if she wants to repeat history, she'll have thought about how to avoid ending up like her old man," said Matt.

"She said that we needed to 'know our history'..." muttered Chloe.

Matt shrugged. "I doubt it's that old motel. It's been demolished...wait..." he said.

"What? Did you know somewhere else she would be?" asked Jake.

"Well, yes, we didn't get to fill you on the rest of what happened," said Matt, "I think we can skip past my flight with Sun to where we were all meeting back up and getting our facts straight..."

...

"Are you off your nut?" snapped Techo, the group looking across at a normal looking law firm office block, "We're going to these thugs?"

"They've sent a gunship after us and killed some of our guys. We deserve some answers from them" said Matt.

"Look, I know Reaper is Black 13, but you really think they'll let us walk in?" said Chloe.

Matt waved to the people walking around. "It's a public place. We'll just call 911," he said, before walking across the road.

Chloe sighed and said, "I can't let him go unsupervised." The group all followed, Sun a little reluctantly. The gang had all dropped their main combat gear, rightly realizing that armored troopers would get attention. Fortunately, they had a spare holo-collar for Techo since he didn't seem to have much control over the shapeshifting dragon power that Sun apparently had.

The lobby of the building was surprisingly empty for a law firm, the receptionist looking up as the group came in. "Can I help you?" he said as the group approached.

"Yes, we've just had a narrow brush from some nitwit flying their personal plane inside city limits and I'd like to know who to sue about it," said Matt.

The receptionist said rudely, "We're closed. Please leave or I will call security."

"No, you'll stay open as long as this case stays open because I'm pretty sure I saw this place's logo decorated on the side of that plane," said Matt.

The receptionist glared before reaching for something before the tallest of Matt's team reached over and picked him up. "You know who we are. We wish to see your leader," he said in a rumbling voice.

The receptionist gave him a sharp look and said, "If you know who we are, you'll know that our security is nothing to trifle with."

"Yeah, but I bet the people out there will call the police before you get us," said Matt, grinning before waving, "Xander, put him down."

After the receptionist was put down, he made a quiet call before saying, "You have 10 minutes to talk with him. If you don't have a good reason to keep talking after, security will step in."

A man in a standard security uniform walked up. "Mr. Nandis will see you now. You may bring one person," he said coldly.

"I'll be coming," said Sun, "I believe I have been wronged more than just by that plane."

"This way please," said the guard, turning and walking towards a lift at the far end of the lobby. Matt and Sun followed, taking a step back as the lift opened to show two mercs wearing full armor with 'B13' on it.

"No funny business," warned one of the mercs.

The lift ride was unusual, going down instead of up for at least 10 minutes before it opened up into a pitch black room, the only light coming from a holo-computer in front of a bank of monitors, showing various Black 13 mercenaries on contracts or just resting.

"Word of advice, Mr. Nandis doesn't have a sense of humor," said the other merc.

Matt gulped as the lift doors closed behind them. "You still wanted to come? Nobody's ever met this guy. He even only sends representatives to the council," Matt said quietly.

"He's only human, right?" whispered Sun.

"Nobody's sure," said Matt, looking at the strange hieroglyphs appearing every now and then on the holo-computer as a skittering noise was heard from the dark. Matt gulped as they walked towards the desk. As they got closer, Matt could see a glass box on the desk with several somethings crawling around inside it and making hissing sounds.

Sun backed up until a rasping voice said, "Madagascar hissing cockroaches…perfectly harmless...yes...food...for companion," The group turned to see two yellow reptilian eyes staring out the darkness...before two more pairs opened above them. "Rivals...come into my hive...you will explain or pet will have new food," the voice said

Sun was completely tongue-tied by terror but Matt managed to say in as level a voice as he could, "Someone flying one of your ships made an attack on us this afternoon, in broad daylight and within the city."

"Not my hive...terran gunships widely sold. Your hive only other hive here. I see all here...your hive leader responsible," said the voice, a clacking noise heard as he spoke.

Matt had a feeling Andies had a thumb in this, but he wasn't expecting much more than being bribed to keep it quiet for someone else. "Well, I suppose it would be unwise to go back to my...hive for help, wouldn't it?" he said.

"You no longer part of their hive...you go back only to die," said Mr. Nandis from the shadows.

Sun finally found his voice and said, "I was never part of his...hive, but he has stolen something precious from me, from several others and I'm here to get them back."

There was an angry hiss at that. "Avalarian...you dare bring hive scorcher into home," hissed Nandis angrily.

"She's not from Avalar and I'd ask how you would know about it, but I'm guessing I won't like the answer," said Matt.

"You will not gain that knowledge. Time has elapsed. You will leave," said Nandis angrily.

"First off, we haven't been talking for 10 minutes, it just took us too long to get down to this pit. Second, you can't just toss us out because you've got a stake in this too. Think anyone else would notice or care that the ship in the river wasn't under your ownership?" said Matt.

At that a claw shot out, grabbing Matt round the throat as what, to Sun looked like a Krylock demon without the snake head skittered out. "You will leave. You are not my master, terran. You and your pet will leave or die," it hissed, its mouth opening in far too many parts for a normal mouth, complete with mandibles.

"I'm the least of your problems," gasped Matt, "My hive doesn't all follow Andies word for word and they'll be wanting payback. You let your hive's name be smeared and your hive will get smeared."

The creature that was Nandis pulled Matt closer with a hiss, glaring into Matts eyes before unceremoniously dropping him. "You will leave," he hissed.

"But we still-" started Sun.

"Sun, let's not aggravate the giant praying mantis any more than we have already," said Matt.

Sun helped Matt up and they headed for the already opening lift, the guards still there. "Ok, that could have gone...hey, what's this?" said Matt, pulling what looked like a contract chip from his pocket. "Sounds like the boss has made you an offer. Don't turn it down too quickly," said one of the guards.

"Sneaky bug," muttered Matt.

...

Once the gang had left the law firm, Matt tried the number listed with the contract clip. A familiar voice said "Contractor?"

Matt actually laughed at that, "Dante? Is that you?"

"Lynch? How did you get this number?" demanded Dante.

"Your boss gave it to me," said Matt.

"Like he'd give a two-bit busybody the time of day," said Dante. "Well, let's just say I put a flea in his ear," said Matt.

A voice in the background said "Verified code, boss." and Dante moaned. "Oh, you have got to be kidding."

"That's right, you better listen to what I have to say if you don't want your boss to bite your head off," taunted Matt.

"You...you saw the boss?" said Dante, his voice shaking.

"Enough of him," said Matt, he didn't see much more than his face and claws, but that was more than enough for him.

"Fine...what's the job?" said Dante, his voice steadying...until Matt said "We're gonna break into CPS command."

"Is this some twisted sort of joke?" demanded Dante.

"Nope, the colonel's into something twisted. I think he sent a team after us. So we're gonna break into his files and get the dirt," said Matt, gleefully enjoying Dante's terror.

"You do realize you're talking about a suicide run," said Dante.

"Maybe, unless you had someone who knew the layout, like us," said Matt.

...

"I thought Dante worked for the Empire," said Jake.

"Well, he's had a few career changes before that," said Matt.

"Yeah, last I heard Mr. Nandis was offering a bounty to anyone who brought him to Black 13 control alive. That was after he went on the empire payroll," said Techo, wincing as he remembered Matt's description of Nandis.

Matt nodded, "Anyway, getting into command was harder than it...our history... We got to get to headquarters, the old headquarters."

...

CPS hadn't always used the same location for their HQ. However, at least they made sure to take everything from the old HQ and not leave it lying around. Which is why when they arrived at the old dockyard, it looked like no one had been there in years.

Matt looked around the warehouse they were in, the only sign anyone was ever there being a few badly rusted jeeps. Matt looked around before firing a plasma ball at a seemingly normal section of wall, revealing a hidden liftshaft. "Down we go," he said, grimly.

"Think they've got any of the old security?" asked Chloe.

"I doubt it, but let's go carefully just in case," said Matt, jumping down.

...

Jake looked around the old corridor, the base looking like a fire had swept through.

"Then won't this place be weakened and unstable?" asked Jake.

"No, it's built to last. Come on, the colonel's office is this way. We'll have to go through operations," said Techo, still annoyed over his scaliness, made more insulting that the gem had locked onto remnants of the spell that Malefor had once used on him.

"So why set up shop down here?" asked Jake, "I mean, this place might have history, but she could find a better place to...do whatever it is she's doing with that chi."

"That's what I don't like," muttered Matt.

"You think she knows about you two being...you know?" asked Jake.

"Certainly, we were big news for a while," said Chloe, checking a corner

"So do you think the syphon tech would work on you?" asked Jake.

"We'd survive. The device was based off a DNA bomb, nanites protect against it usually," said Techo, looking around a corner before the group spotted a light in the distance, coming under a door.

"I get the feeling she's going to try anyways," said Chloe.

The group slowly walked forward before Matt tried the control on the door, the door sliding open. "Ok...that's not good," said Techo, "There shouldn't be any power."

"Like a generator is so hard to drag along," said Jake.

"No, that's the thing, nobody else was down here. That lift's the only way up or down," said Matt, looking in to see that the room beyond was the very one they had been after, the old holo-terminal powered up, with several files already open and a pending pre-recorded message waiting.

"This better not be another one of those 'follow the messages' things," said Jake.

Techo looked at the files and paled. "Oh, this is not good. Looks like the colonel kept the specs for the syphon on here...and had a backup made," he said.

"So his little girl can pick up where her father left up," said Chloe.

"Hey, what's this?" said Techo, activating the pre-recorded audio.

"Oh, well done. You actually do have a brain," said Diana's voice from the computer.

"We're not going to be playing follow the leader all day," said Matt, "You better show where you're hiding."

"Matt, it's pre-recorded, it can't respond," said Chloe.

"I know, I just needed to say that," said Matt.

"Now, you're no doubt sick of playing 'follow the leader' knowing your file, so I'll make this quick. Come to where it all ended...if you get out in time that is. Goodbye captain," said Diana's voice before a monotone voice said "Demolition charges now armed...detonation in 60 seconds."

"Figures," said Matt, "Everyone out, double time!"

Jake said "You sure they'll still..." before he was thrown off his feet as an explosion shook the room.

"That was just a firecracker compared to what the rest of the place is about to do," said Matt, "Move it!"

The group ran for it, those with wings using them to double the speed and carrying those without. As it was they barely got out in time before a fireball followed them out.

They watched as the warehouse was quickly consumed in flames. "Well, at least we know we're on the right trail," said Jake, "I'm guessing 'where it all ended' was where you took down the colonel."

"Yeah, it was. We got the files easily enough. Leyton was the real guy in charge by that point and alot of the guys were behind them. We didn't even have to hide. Turns out after we were attacked, Andies legged it..." said Techo.

...

"I say we gut the smegging rat!" yelled a mercenary from Condor team at the back of the command center. Needless to say the entirety of the teams in New York was baying for the colonel's blood, much to Sun's horror.

"Now, now, I agree that two-timer ought to be hanged by his entrails, but that doesn't mean we need to go after him like a raving lynch mob," called Leyton before turning to Matt and Chloe and adding, "No offense."

"None taken," began Matt only for Techo to physically lift him out the way.

"Screw that, I want his head on a bloody stick," snapped the draconic merc.

"Please, do not let yourself be consumed by violence," said Sun, "I would hate to see my sister's chi corrupted by savage bloodlust."

"Hey, I deserve some payback for...whoa, whoa, whoa, did you say this is your sister's chi?" asked Techo.

"Yes," said Sun.

"I'M GONNA TURN INTO A GIRL?!" cried Techo.

"Nah...probably not," said Wilson, patting Techo on the back before rubbing it behind the merc's back mouthing pain.

"This doesn't solve the problem of working out where he legged it to," said Chloe

"The slimebucket's covered his trail pretty well," said Leyton, "Unless our guest has some magic trick to locate him."

Dante, who was sitting at the back said, "You bothered to ask our boss?"

"He...didn't seem the type to be prodded," said Matt.

"Hey, last thing we need is another crackdown by the council," said Dante.

"Well, if ye have any information worth sharin', please feel free to do so," said Leyton.

Dante shrugged before walking off to talk to one of his team, Techo's opposite number who immediately walked over to one of the op consoles and began fiddling inside a panel. "Very little escapes our boss's notice," said Dante, "He's been keeping tabs on Andies' collecting for a while."

Matt glared. "And he hasn't shared," he said sarcastically, causing Dante to chuckle and say "Would you have?" before a screen map of New York appeared, zooming out to the state then further out.

"He's gone pretty far." said the techie. Eventually, it zoomed out to an image of the globe before it rotated completely around and started zooming in on the Chinese Sea.

"Really far," commented Techo before it finally zoomed in on a small cluster of islands. "Weird, that place isn't marked," said the techie before a text post appeared, exclaiming "QUARANTINE ZONE BY ORDER OF DARKRIFT DIVISION!'

"That is near the Isle of Draco," observed Sun.

"Never heard of it," said Dante promptly.

"If DARKRIFT sealed it, not surprising, those guys do whatever the hell they want," said Wilson.

"I'm guessin' the Isle of Draco isn't named that way just for the tourists," said Leyton.

Sun hesitated to speak. "Sun, this is not a good time for secrets. Lives are in the balance," said Chloe.

"It is the home of the council...our leaders," said Sun reluctantly.

Dante shrugged. "Smart, standard ops, take out the head, and the body falls over," he commented bluntly.

"Not to mention the leaders are probably full of extra-powerful chi," said Wilson.

"Crap," muttered Matt before trying to upload a route to the island, only to get errors as the DARKRIFT firewall fell like a hammer. "Smeg, we need to get there," he snapped.

"That's the other side of the world, it's going to take too long to get there, even if we went orbital," said Techo.

"If we knew where it as we could do a site to site warp jump," said Dante, before he and Matt turned to look at Sun.

"You are asking me to reveal council secrets and I can't just do that with anyone who hasn't earned the trust," said Sun.

"If you don't reveal them, there won't be a council," argued Wilson. Sun paused before asking for a notepad which Chloe provided, using it to write down some map coordinates.

"Ok, so shall we attempt to sneak in and disable their plans before we realize we're there or do we hit them hard and fast before they know what's happening?" asked Matt.

"If I was Andies, I'd have a full force defending the bomb, especially as it's on this council's doorstep," said Dante, before saying, "Well, you did hire Black 13, might as well go all the way."

Matt and Chloe watched as Dante walked off to make a call before Matt said, "I never thought I'd ever say this but, go Dante."

"Hopefully things get less surreal after this," said Chloe.

...

Andies looked at the so-called Huntsclan all clustered around him. If he'd had his way, a team would have been setting up this device...but thanks to Lynch getting away he'd had to run and as such was forced to do it himself. Still, that dragon chi was powerful stuff if the reports he had heard were true. If he could utilize it properly...well, he was certain this 'Huntsman' wouldn't notice a few canisters missing.

"Device will be ready in a few minutes. I even had a backup device made," he said, before his smile melted away in the face of the Huntclan master's glare. "You don't smile much, do you," he said, turning back to double check the detonation cylinders. "So tell me, what do you plan to do with all that dragon chi once you have it? Empower your weapons? Sell it to the highest bidder?" asked Andies.

"Destroy it so its evil cannot corrupt anyone," said the Huntsmaster coldly, making Andies gulp a little.

"Well, as noble as your mission sounds, nobility doesn't pay the bills..." started Andies.

"You will be paid when the job's finished, no sooner," snapped the Huntsmaster.

"Fine, fine," muttered Andies.

The Huntsmaster glared before saying "I have business elsewhere. I must see to my apprentice's training. Do NOT fail." before slamming his staff down and vanishing in a teleporter flash.

"I hate it when he does that," muttered Andies before his wristcomp beeped. "Alert...incoming aerial contacts."

...

Matt was hanging his legs out the side door of the transport the group were in, said transport part of a swarm of vessels that had just jumped into the airspace about 4 minutes flight from the islands.

"Matt, stop fooling around before you fall out!" snapped Chloe.

"Hey, I've got a perfectly good grip and I'll be ready to drop on time," said Matt.

"This is a bad idea, if this is a DARKRIFT zone..." began Techo before Matt's comm beeped, the same message going to Dante.

"Mercenary units, this is DARKRIFT 2-90. You are entering a restricted area. Alter your headed on bearing 4-2-6 out of the area."

"We have good reason to be here," replied Matt, "Colonel Andies, or should I say ex-colonel, is building a weapon of mass...assassination on this island that needs to be destroyed."

"We are not at liberty to defend non-council races. Again, alter your heading on 4-2..." began the voice only for Sun to call into Matt's wristcomp, "They are going to murder hundreds of my people. Is that not worth action?" Everyone stared in horror at Sun, all knowing of how DARKRIFT had NO rules at all.

There was silence for a second before the voice said, "Heading approved. Continue on your way. Our sensors confirm a 90% above average lifesign reading on the central island. We are issuing an automatic bounty on Colonel Davis Andies to both Black 13 and C.P.S. Do you accept?"

"Uh...sure, how much?" asked Matt.

Chloe slapped Matt and snapped, "Of course."

Dante chuckled and said "Black 13 representative, Dante, accepts."

The voice said, "Contract acceptance confirms. Backup is 10 minutes away. Good hunting. DARKRIFT 2-90 out."

Sun gave Matt and Dante a scornful look and said, "I hope the survival of my people means more than a monetary bonus to you."

"Miss Park. When it comes to traitors, the cash is a bonus. We do not like our men being murderers," said Dante, sounding hurt.

...

Meanwhile, Andies was trying to get the clan ready for the incoming assault. But as this was the Japanese division, they hadn't seen CPS or Black 13 in action and weren't very impressed.

"I'm telling you, get some damn snipers inside the buildings," he snapped, pointing to the concrete squares that made up the old WW2 fort they had found on the island.

"We are Huntsclan. There is nothing we cannot handle," said the leader of the clan left behind.

"You haven't seen anything like these people. They'll rip you to shreds if you aren't prepared," said Andies.

"Hah," said the leader, not seeing the flash in the fog behind him, before a blue laser pulse shot out and hit him in the back, a half dozen gunships flying out the smoke.

"Take cover!" yelled Andies before running for it himself.

"PROTECT THE COLONEL! ONLY HE KNOWS HOW TO ACTIVATE THE DEVICE!" yelled a Huntsclan, the clan opening fire on the emerging mercs as one of the choppers shot over them towards the fort.

...

"Looks like the bombs in the topmost area!" yelled the pilot, steering the chopper up. The battle below so far was in the mercs' favor, though they were outnumbered

"Get us as close as you can, we can jump if you can't land," said Matt.

"Thermal's got plenty of friends in there. I'll clear the way for you first, Lynches," said the pilot, a Black 13 pilot before turning the chopper to fire its wing cannons at the wall, pulverizing it and the clan inside.

Suddenly, a plasma blast shot out and hit the tail rotor, causing the chopper to start spinning out of control. "I'm losing iiit!" yelled the pilot, desperately trying to right it, before Matt and Chloe were tossed out by the spinning, the chopper exploding below.

"We lose more choppers that way," said Matt.

"I hope the others got out before it crashed," said Chloe.

A hail of gunfire shot out at that, forcing the two to dive for what cover some rubble made. "You PAINS IN MY BUTT!" yelled Andies' voice.

"I was wondering when he'd eventually say that," said Matt.

"He's been calling us that since our training days, when you started that fire in the lounge," said Chloe.

"You are NOT messing up this payday, you little brats!" yelled Andies, firing another burst of gunfire.

"I think you need to look a bit further than that," called Matt, "I don't see much of a long-term career ahead of you at this point."

"This could have worked, these things are dangerous," snapped Andies before spotting Chloe moving and firing a burst into the weakened floor. The floor quickly gave out and Chloe had to snatch the side of the hole to keep her from falling through.

Another hail of gunfire shot towards her, only for Matt to tackle Andies, the two rolling back as the bullets shot around. Chloe yelped and lost her grip, luckily bouncing down a series of small outcroppings to land at the beach below, where the battle was slowly turning against the mercs. As she got back up, she noticed that Sun was nowhere to be found. "She deserted us, I can't believe she deserted us," said Chloe.

"Go, go, fall back to the fort!" yelled a Black 13 merc, before a plasma bolt shot through him. Their opponents had quickly gotten their act together and were fighting back with monstrous firepower.

...

Matt however was learning why the colonel had held his position so long as a knee connected with his chest and he was pushed across the room. "You could have kept your nose out of this. You could have just perished before you stirred up too much trouble," snapped Andies.

"So...is genocide the company line now?" called Matt, looking for his blaster and quietly moaning as he saw it in the wide open.

On cue, a device in the middle of the room said "Stage one arming sequence complete...preparing stage two."

"Not genocide, harvesting. Once the leaders were gone, we could have swooped down and snatched up the rest. They could have been the next generation of supersoldiers," said Andies.

"Didn't the Ancients try that? And Sy Yong? Look what happened there," called Matt.

"We learn from their mistakes. Just as I'm learning from my mistake of letting you run around," said Andies as he aimed his gun at Matt's knee.

Matt barely pulled his leg behind cover. "Oi, you'll have someone's leg off with that," said Matt, sarcastically, before pulling a knife out and tossing it at Andies' gun, the 'blaster knife' blowing the front off.

Andies tossed aside the gun and said, "Enough toying around, I'd like to see you keep prattling with a broken neck."

Andies then noticed the blaster, both of them running for the blaster, the device claiming "Stage two complete. Beginning final firing sequence."

"You're too late anyways, Lynch," said Andies, "Might as well quite while you still have a head." He and Matt both pounced for the blaster at the same time.

Matt struggled to take the blaster away. "I won't...let...you…" he winced, forcing the blaster down before managing to fire a single blast into the device.

"Critical error. System failure. Protocol 5 beginning arming abort and shutdown."

Andies stared in horror before headbutting Matt. "No...NO!" he yelled, running towards the sparking device. Andies frantically pulled panels back at the damaged part, "Don't you give up me. I am not getting out of here empty-handed." However, the sparking seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

"Unable to comply. DNA bomb targeting offline...Protocol 5 shutdown and disarm...complete…" said the device before the lights went off, though a hatch opened revealing another machineblaster.

A click behind Andies was heard and Matts voice said, "Show's over...you...lose."

"I haven't lost just yet," said Andies before yanking out the blaster and spinning around to face Matt.

Matt barely had time to dodge before a spread of rounds bit into his armor, sending him flying back. Andies, a mad grin on his face, strolled over to the hole and looked down to where the Huntsclan were firing at the beleaguered mercs. "Looks like your friends will lose too," he taunted before a fireball shot out the fog and sent several of the Huntsclan flying.

"What?" snapped Andies before he and Matt looked up and seeing a large group of dragons flying down and raining fire upon the Huntsclan.

"Huh, didn't expect this to happen to me again," said Matt.

"You...YOU!" began Andies madly, firing at Matt again before another fireball melted the front off his gun at the same time that a blast blew the blastdoors to the chamber open, a force of mercs running inside.

"Andies, you're under arrest by order of CPS," called Leyton.

"Wait a minute, who says you're getting his collar? Black 13 has his bounty," said Dante.

"Hold, this monster is under arrest by order of the council," said a female purple dragon.

"Are you guys really just gonna argue about who gets him when you don't even have any cuffs on him yet?" asked Chloe as she walked forward with a pair of handcuffs.

However, when she got close, Andies suddenly grabbed her and pulled out an energy dagger which he put next to her throat. "No one's getting me today," said Andies, "Not unless you want to go over her dead body."

The purple dragoness said "You will not escape..." before jumping as a single blaster shot rang out, Andies, with a puzzled look slowly slumping over with a smoking hole in his forehead. "Nobody...touches my sister," said Matt, coldly lowering his blaster.

They stared down at Andies' body for a few moments before Leyton said, "Well, I suppose Lynch gets the bounty now. We'd better stay here, let DARKRIFT finish this..." only for the purple dragoness to snarl.

"No, your memories must be removed," she said before a laser sight appeared out of nowhere, several dozen black uniformed troopers shimmering into view, one of them saying "I wouldn't try that."

...

"Yeah, that wasn't our best example of first contact, but fortunately we've been able to reach a peaceful agreement," said Matt as the jets flew on towards the island. He was feeling better since the Voodoo Anklet of Extreme Discomfort have been removed for this mission, with the subtle hint that it may stay off if it was successful.

"Drake 1, we have a confirmed signal in the old fortress...bearing 2-8-4...it's a syphon bomb for sure," said a voice on the comm as the island came into view.

"She can't be really planning a carbon copy of her dad's plan, it might be a red herring," said Matt.

"System match...it's already approaching stage 2 prep. We gotta move," said the voice again, the jets switching to VTOL mode to hover in place.

"But you guys and the council set something up in case someone ever tried this again, right?" asked Jake.

"I doubt it, they woulda told their agents otherwise," said Techo, grumbling in the back.

"Well, at least we have more than enough dragon power to take her on, right?" said Jake.

"Screw you!" yelled Techo, annoyed.

"Someone's sore. Let's go. Takes us round to the old hole," said Matt, sniggering at Techo.

...

Diana was busy putting the final bit of rigging around the syphon bomb when she heard the gunfire outside finally starting to ebb. "I would have thought marauders would have lasted longer. That's why I get for putting more credits into the tech than the men. Oh well, Plan B," she said, walking over to a beach seat and pulling out what looked like a lighter just as the door exploded in. "Hi," she called cheerfully, not bothered by the terran and Avalarian dragon growling at her as well as the dozen laser sights on her.

"You know, for someone so eager to follow in her daddy's footsteps, you didn't do that much to improve upon his plans," said Matt casually.

"You can't talk, your plans usually end in explosions. Tell me, did you bother to do a scan sweep as the manual demands?" said Diana, twirling the lighter in her hand before flipping it open to reveal a glowing ruby button and pressing it.

"You rigged the place to blow, didn't you? Crazy, but I suppose that I should have expected," said Matt.

"And we have only 60 seconds before we go out with a bang, not enough time for you to fly away," said Diana before glancing at her watch and saying, "Correction, we have 45 seconds."

Techo glared and leapt forward, snatching the detonator and using a drill that folded out from his cybernetic paw to open it. "Ah, the MK 15, I designed this," he said, grinning evilly at Diana.

"Which is why I tweaked it a little," said Diana.

Techo looked down to see that all the usual markers he had once placed in had been removed. "Sod it...come on...come oooon..." he muttered.

"20 seconds, boys, any last words before we go see dear old dad?" said Diana, manically.

"Who says we're going to the same place?" said Matt, "I'm pretty sure I've scored better karma points than he did."

Techo however finally managed to find the core, cutting one of the two remaining power cables and sighing as the lights died. Surprisingly, Diana didn't look bothered, simply raising her hands while still smirking.

"If you're think of taking any hostages, don't. Your father found out the hard way that was a bad idea," said Matt.

"I'm smarter than my father," said Diana, muttering, "You'll just have to make do with me breathing." before laughing at Matt as she was dragged away.

"Is it me, or was that too easy?" asked Jake, "I mean, I thought it was going to build up to something more exciting than this."

"I know. Let's just get...that dismantled," said Matt, looking at the now offline Syphon bomb.

...

Diana, sitting in a cell looked up as a guard on the intercom said, "Hey, prisoner 82, visitor."

"If it's Lynch, tell him I'm not seeing him," said Diana.

"It isn't him," said the guard, the door hissing open.

Diana simply smiled as she recognized the figure. "Took your time." she said.

* * *

There's another chapter up. I would have done it sooner, but I had a busy week. This is a sort of buffer between the last chapter and the finale, not that it's any less exciting. We get a glimpse of Matt and Chloe before the whole EXP madness and see how effective Sun Park is. We may be seeing Diana at some point in the future. I'm not really sure when, but definitely one to watch out for. The final chapter will be up tomorrow so keep an eye out for it. Please review.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

After over a month of waiting (and having to foil villains of the week), the time was finally approaching for Matt's court martial.

"Ok...let's go over this again, Sue. I don't have to plead insanity." said Matt, calmly

"But it's your most convincing case," said Sue, "There isn't a jury in the universe who wouldn't accept it."

"No, I'm sick of wearing a grav-jacket," snapped Matt, annoyed, and yelping as the anklet bit him.

"Well, if we plead guilty, I think we can bargain them down to a lesser sentence. Your 'civic duties' these last few weeks will definitely help weigh it in your favor," said Sue.

"So...how much are we talking about?" asked Matt, curiously.

"A few decades, give or take. The cincher was that Diana last week," said Sue calmly.

Matt facepalmed and said, "Sue, you're my attorney and attorneys are supposed to be helpful."

"Well, Jumba did design her to be an ultimate lawyer and that includes all the doubledealing conniving that goes with it," said Chip.

"Then what's with her green slime?" asked Matt.

"Doesn't that come with the job too?" asked Morph.

"Not really, I'll be honest there," said Chloe.

"Look, the point is I _know_ I'm innocent and I need to convince them that I really am, no matter what that smeghead McNeil says," said Matt.

"He has a dad on the council. He literally has a guy on the inside. He'll try every dirty trick," said Sue, calmly.

"And it's your job to anticipate and counter those dirty tricks," said Matt, starting to lose his patience.

"Oh, I have something just in case. Chip, did you bring those helmet cam recordings?" said Sue smugly.

"Yes, I picked out all the clips that we need," said Chip, "Let me show you." He turned on his holographic projector against the wall, showing footage from the gang's assault on McNeil's Antarctic facility.

Matt slowly began smiling at the clips highlighted the labs, the mutants, and the disaster zone the mutant outbreak turned the base into before frowning again. "We should probably use that as a last resort. With the Empire pounding away as it is, the last thing the NSC needs is a scandal. Once we get off and the Empire's toast, we'll turn all our attention to McNeil."

"We may have to resort to it anyways. McNeil will put a very convincing case against you," said Sue.

"Please, I know a half dozen dimensions that owe me. Admittedly, only one can send a witness, but that is a witness for my first one," said Matt smugly.

"Is he here yet?" asked Morph.

"He'll be on Central by the time the uplinks online," said Techo, before a knocking was heard and two Disperse Inc mercs, in full dragonbuster armor walked in. "Captain? It's time," said one.

...

Of course, the entire court martial wasn't in one room. The council had too much to deal than to spend all day at a trial so they were present through video uplink. As was usual, the council had chosen to keep their link as just shadows on a screen, though the fact that a couple of them had glowing or reptilian eyes didn't make it better.

McNeil was already present with his own lawyer. "Good, we can get started," said McNeil impatiently, Matt noticing darkly that two Kryos guards were already in the room.

"Captain Matthew James Lynch of Constellation Private Security, you stand before this tribunal accused of manslaughter, sabotage, and going rouge," said Councilor Davine, "How do you plea?"

"My client pleads not guilty and wishes to point out that there was extreme mitigating circumstances," said Sue promptly, McNeil glaring at her.

"Are we allowing animals to be lawyers?" he said coldly.

Davine shot McNeil an offended look and said, "And what fits your definition of 'animal'?" A few other council members were also glaring at McNeil if their eyes were anything to go by.

McNiel stuttered a bit before going silent. His lawyer, who had covered his eyes at McNeil's words, slowly lifted his head with a sigh before saying, "Calling first witness..."

"Lieutenant Mark Anthony of Constellation Private Security," said Sue.

"His last name is Anthony?" asked Matt.

"Oh har, har," said a voice behind them, Mark walking in, carrying, to McNeil's confusion, a toy of some kind...whose visor seemed to follow him round the room.

"Mark, long time no see," said Matt, "How have you been?"

"As usual as that Tokyo can be. It's good for Robomon to get out and about though," said Mark.

"So that's a Digimon," said Chip as he looked at Robomon, "He doesn't look like much, even if he is good-looking."

"Well, you look like a walking battery." said Robomon, a little annoyed at that.

Then Davine cleared his throat and said, "Am I hearing correct that you brought a digital monster outside of the quarantine?"

"He helps keep that quarantine in place, councilman," said Mark respectfully.

"All bio-emerges are under constant filter and only 83.9% of hostile Digimon emerge and are swiftly confronted," said Robomon.

"I like it," said Davine, apparently amused before saying "Your witness, Mr. Lynch."

Matt got up and wandered over, "Hey Mark...how's Veemon? I've been meaning to visit but you know, interdimensional war and all that."

"Oh, he's built up quite a reputation as one of the toughest Digimon around. Nobody tries to pick on him anymore. But he says he missing digivolving up to higher levels," said Mark.

McNeil cleared his throat and said, "May I remind you that this is a court martial, not a social chatroom?"

Robomon settled for blowing an electronic raspberry at McNeil who went bug eyed with rage. Matt sighed before saying, "Over to you, Sue. Please don't spit at him."

Sue muttered, "That depends on him," before wandering up, "Ok, when did you and the captain first meet?"

"Well, that would be at Balwak Research Outpost, I was part of the security there," said Mark.

"Ah, Balwak Station. A Damocles class research post, lost when its coolant suffered a catastrophic system failure," said Sue, smoothly using the old cover story the council of the time had used for the accident.

"Uh, yeah, total malfunction. I was lucky to get out of there alive. I didn't have that much time to talk to Matt when he first came aboard," said Mark.

"You later became aware of an illegal genetic research program being undertaken by the head of the lab. A Dr. Anton Kurata, currently serving life in Kryos psychiatric wing," said Sue, looking at the notes.

"Yes, I was aware that Kurata was studying the Digimon, but I wasn't aware of how...unscrupulous his methods were and how his goal was less than...ideal," said Mark.

"Yes, you later aided the Lynches and a force of locals in undermining the operations until the 12th fleet arrived and assumed control," said Sue, calmly reading the notes before saying, "Tell me, what were your thoughts on Matt when you were ordered by the doctor to capture him?"

"Well, to be honest, I first thought Matt was being a nosy parker than that had gotten way over his head," said Mark. An empty cola can, tossed by Matt, bounced off Marks head at that, Robomon catching it and munching on it. "Later, he seemed to really care about helping. He got hurt more than a few times when he coulda just walked away," said Mark, calmly ignoring it.

"And at point, would you have ever considered him 'rogue'?" asked Sue.

"Yes...but in a good way. Sometimes orders are better off being ignored," said Mark.

"No further questions," said Sue before turning to the prosecutor, "Your witness."

McNeil's lawyer walked forward, nodding to Sue as from one pro to another. "Mr. Anthony. What was your post at Balwak again, just for the record?" he said calmly.

"Yes, as I already said, I was part of security," said Mark.

"Of course, but you must have had a position within security. From my file here, you're the only surviving member of that team," said the lawyer, calmly.

"Well, I was chief of security," said Mark, now sounding proud of it.

"As such, your clearance gave you access to every section of all facilities in both mirrors of that universes Earth, material and digital yet you say you were unaware of your employer's actions," said the lawyer smugly, Sue actually looking impressed behind him.

"Well, I had to admit at the time I was...biased towards Digimon. No one really thought of them as living beings," said Mark, sounding ashamed.

"So you admit to willingly aiding the program," said the lawyer in the same smugness.

"Well, yes, but Matt helped me see that what I was doing was wrong," said Mark.

"However, the fact remains is that you are actually serving on the B-42 quarantine as part of a sentence passed down by the previous council!" said the lawyer, shouting that.

"Hey, I'm not the one on trial here!" snapped Mark.

"Maybe you should be? I call for this witnesses statement to be inadmissible..." began the lawyer only for Robomon to yell "SHUT UP!"

Everyone turned as Robomon continued, "You know have no idea what it was like in there! I wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for Mark. You know what Kurata wanted to do with me? He wanted to mass-produce an army of mindless Robomon but when I showed some personality, he wanted to delete me and Mark saved me before that happened! He might not have started as a good man, but he is a good man now and you have not right to call him otherwise!"

The lawyer seemed shocked before the voice of one of the council said, "Your movement to dismiss the witnesses evidence is overruled...in light of that...passionate show...but Mr. Anthony, stress on your...partner what will happen should he speak like that to us or the prosecution again."

Maybe it was the shock of Robomon's outburst, but Matt could have sworn that voice sounded incredibly familiar. In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd have said that voice sounded like...

Another voice, human, said "Colonel McNeil. You have yet to say exactly WHAT the captain sabotaged."

Matt gave McNeil a sneaky look and said, "Yes, if it wasn't a 'genetic research facility filled with unethical experiments', what was it that I wrecked?"

"I will...admit we had some specimens on site for research. Mr. Lynch's arrival caused a full containment failure of them and the artifacts we research for the Anti-Magi division," said McNeil, calmly.

"And you just happened to lose all your security footage that would have condemned Matt of his alleged sabotage?" asked Sue who was also working on something on a datapad.

"The facility was rendered nonoperational," said McNeil, turning towards Sue as the screen flickered into a split screen format, the left still showing the council.

The screen quickly cleared up to show what looked like demonic bat creatures, some were hospital gowns, savagely attacking Matt's team. This quickly raised much ire from the council by the tone of their voices. "McNeil, explain these pictures and why they have codestamps for your base," said the human's voice, full of rage.

"Well...it's clearly fake. I mean, have you ever seen such poor costumes? I can see the wire in those wings," said McNeil.

"Do you think I'm a fool?" said Davine's voice, "I could spot a fake blindfolded. This file is genuine."

"Uh...yeah, it is," said Matt before throwing a stern look at Sue who only looked smug.

"This complicates things. I'm adjourning this hearing for 3 hours," said Davine, the comm vanishing.

At that, McNeil lunged out towards Sue and had to held back by both Kyros guards. "You're dead, you little trog! I'm gonna skin you alive for that!" he yelled.

"Someone's got busteeed," sang Matt, forgetting his annoyance with Sue when he saw McNeil's reaction.

McNeil glared at Matt and said, "And that goes double for you, Lynch! You and your entire crew of freaks! You're not getting off this planet alive!"

"That sounds like a threat, did we get that, Sue?" said Matt, cheerfully, Sue waving her tape recorder. "Sir, please calm down or I'll be forced to put you in the brig for the duration," said a guard.

It must have took a momentous amount of self-control, but McNeil stopped struggling. "You'll live to regret this, Lynch. And that won't be very long," he said.

...

McNeil sat in his hotel room, gloomily. The helmet cam footage was as good as a ticket to prison. As much as he hated to admit it, Lynch had him in a corner and he couldn't see any way out.

These...mercs had more oomph than the military nowadays. The NSC had relied more and more on the private companies for military support and the council rolled over and took it. It was getting to the point that CPS was synonymous to NSC.

That brought him to the offer he'd nearly considered a week ago...

...

"More casualty reports, sir. 7th fleets bogged down in the Antiga sector," said an aide, passing a datapad over.

"We're close to losing even more territory," muttered McNeil, "It seems it's always 3 steps forward and 5 steps back."

"More bad news, the council pulled the core fleets back to Central. After that empire battlegroup broke through and Disperse recommended it..." said the aide, his voice trailing off under McNeil's glare.

"That's quite enough for right now, thank you," said McNeil sternly.

"Oh...and there's a visitor for you from QinaCorp technologies," said the Aide, before walking out.

Another man walked and said casually, "I've heard you've been having a string of bad luck lately."

"Ok, lets drop the blitznak. I know for a fact that Qinacorp doesn't exist. Who are you really?" said McNeil, not bothering to look up.

One of the people higher up the hill you've been fighting on," said the man.

McNeil looked up before lunging for the intercom, only for what looked like a fang to hit it. McNeil looked back at the man to see his outstretched hand slowly reverting back from a fang mouth. "Please don't make me do that again. It's hard enough to maintain this form without you tempting me," said the man, his eyes briefly glowing red.

McNeil managed to compose himself for a second before saying calmly, "I presume there's a reason I'm not sprouting fur and an urge to devour coconut cake and coffee."

The man, or rather OmegaMorph, smirked and said, "Like I'd ever devolve you into something that silly. I'd prefer something a lot more vicious. But my...master thinks that you'd be a better asset as a human."

"Ok, let's assume I am crazy. Why would I work for your mini-napoleon?" said McNeil calmly.

"Because that's the only way you're going to win this war," said OmegaMorph, "You're not trying to fight up a hill, you're teetering at the edge of a cliff. Continuing the fight is just going to end with a lot more destruction and death, not that I wouldn't mind. Besides, Hamsterviel's rule is not nearly as bad as everyone's been saying it is. He's brought something that's been all too lacking in this universe: order."

"Really? Didn't he toss your prototype out when he ceased to be useful? Maybe you'll be next?" said McNeil, leaning back in his seat.

OmegaMorph snarled and said, "I'll always be useful to him. The only reason your planet is not a radioactive ember right now it because my...master has enduring plans for it." His arms seemed to swell for a second before resuming their previous size.

"Oh, I thought it was because there's a Conestoga class battlecruiser in orbit taking pot shots at your ships? How many ships did you lose to Sec-Def before you got here?" said McNeil, grinning.

OmegaMorph's face distorted for a second before looking human again. "Don't push my temper. You really don't want to see what happens when I lose control," he growled.

"Do you turn green?" said McNeil before lifting up a device.

OmegaMorph's eyes widened and turned red as he said, "Where did you get that?"

"You think you're the only guy who can steal stuff?" said McNeil before hitting the button, causing OmegaMorph to involuntarily jumps back like he'd been burnt. "Ok, because you impressed me by not killing your way to me, what do you want? The NSC is not gonna surrender if that's what you mean," he said.

"Of course, not under its old softhearted management," said OmegaMorph.

"Oh please, you honestly aren't suggesting I replace the council?" said McNiel actually laughing and using his lunge forward to hit a silent alarm button

"We both know you'd do a much better job. Besides, when Lynch eventually exposes your experimenting under the table, you won't have a choice," said OmegaMorph before suddenly vanishing in a flash of red light.

Two security troopers ran in. "Sir? What happened?"

"Nothing...nothing at all," said McNeil, looking at the device that had been left behind...what looked like another remote for a remote controlled ion missile.

...

McNeil laughed at the idea at first, but now his options were dwindling. It hasn't helped that the Empire was gaining more ground. "Dana...system estimate before no-win scenario is imminent," said McNiel, looking at his wrist-comp.

"Estimating...at current loss rates, NSC forces will be too depleted to prevent losing 91.75% of remaining territories...full losses to follow 1 terran week after," said the AI, "Recommended courses include..." before McNeil turned her off. There's no hope of beating the Empire, there was only one way out...

...

Matt and company were back inside the 'courthouse' waiting for the rest to begin. McNiel had left back for Central, much to Matt's personal pleasure.

"As glad as I am that we're off the hook now, I think we could have won this trial without pulling out our trump card halfway through," said Chip.

"He shouldn't have called me an animal," said Sue sulkily.

"I've heard worse insults than that," said Draco.

"Huh, he got what's coming to him, the little..." muttered Sue before the signal flickered back to life, showing the council again.

"Where's McNeil?" asked one of the unknowns.

"Maybe he had to go to the bathroom," said Morph.

"Morph...who let you in the courtroom?" said Matt slowly.

"The guards," said Morph, calmly.

Matt sighed before the council continued. "In light of the new evidence, we're dropping the case against you...and opening a new one," said the same councilman.

"It's against Max the janitor, isn't it? I always knew he was hiding something," said Morph.

"Oh, I just remembered, Rule 42: anyone with an IQ lower than 30 has to leave the courtroom immediately," said Matt before plasmabending Morph out the door.

"McNeil's crossed the line. We sent a team to check the ruins of his base to verify the story and it seems to be checking out," said the councilman once Morph was gone

"Well, it's hard to see a great man like McNeil fall like that," said Matt.

"No need for sarcasm..." said another councilman in an amused voice before the room on their end of the link went red.

"What the smeg?" swore one in shock before the screen went to static.

"Uh, that was just a loss of power on their end, right?" asked Draco.

The viewer shot back to the usual NSC News network feeds with one thing seemingly occupying it. "Oh no," said Matt, activating one feed "-in. Some kind of missile has just hit the council headquarters here on central..." said the newsreader, being jostled as people ran past her.

"Er, that's just an incredibly unfortunate coincidence, right?" asked Draco.

"...As far as we know the entire council was in an emergency session. Colonel McNeil, under the emergency act has assumed control of the NSC until further notice..." said the voice before the screen went dead.

"Does that answer your question?" stated Chip.

...

Matt and the gang had gone outside to Central Park to try and think on what had happened. McNeil...the last of the old guard...in charge.

"Maybe we're just jumping to conclusions," said Kala, "I mean, McNeil is morally ambiguous enough to try to crossbreed demonic soldiers, but would he really fire a missile at the council?"

"No, the NSC doesn't have remote missiles like that. This was Empire." said NegaMorph, wearing a hologuise.

Sue had also tagged along, her transport cancelled. "I shoulda spat at him," she grumbled.

"Ok, McNeil's a colossal jerk, but he can't be a traitor, can he?" asked Kala.

"Depends how desperate he is." said Matt before looking up as several National Guard trucks shot by.

"Our guys in disguise or the real ones?" asked NegaMorph.

"Real," said Chloe in shock before a boom was heard, clustered with screams.

"Then that's a probably not a good sign," said NegaMorph.

A red beam shot down at that, hitting a building and literally removing the top. "It's an alien invasion!" yelled Morph before diving under a rock.

The group looked up as a trio of droid fighters shot past, firing rapidly at anything. "Kinda looks that way," admitted Draco.

A beep came from everyone's wrist comps. "All units...Code Alpha. Report to Control and gear up," said Leyton's voice, the sound of the alarms in the background.

"Code Alpha, not a good thing, I take it," said Draco as he pulled Morph from out under the rock.

"Means 'drop all pretense and start shooting the evil aliens'," said Matt, running for their jeep, only to be thrown back as a laser bolt blew it apart.

"Yeah, no point in hiding now," said NegaMorph before turning off his holocloak and shooting some laser blasts at one of the droids.

...

The fight seemed to be worldwide, the Time Square screen showing feeds all over the world before a National Guard Apache was crashed into it. Quite naturally, the civilians were fleeing in panic. Fortunately, a detachment of the National Guard was able to direct them to safety.

However, the Earth military was sorely outmatched. Sure a well-aimed Sidewinder could mess up a destroyer droid's day, but all the Empire had to do was shoot from orbit

And even with CPS throwing their fighters into the mix, they were outnumbered almost twenty to one. "Where the hell's the NSC? Sec-Def's supposed to stop this happening." yelled Techo.

"The Council was hit by a missile, remember?" said Chris.

"But the fleet wouldn't have run...ah look," said Matt, pointing to where several dozen droids were being blasted by a force of NSC marines.

"Phew, look likes the cavalry's arrived," said NegaMorph only for one of the marines to shoot his head apart.

"For whose side?" asked Chip.

"FRIENDLIES! HEY!" yelled Matt, dancing around rounds before trying to raise an energy shield.

"I don't think we're on their friends list," said Chip.

Matt dived for cover as they seemed to prefer him. "What the hell's going on?" he yelled, firing wildly back, missing on purpose.

"Didn't that news report say that McNeil was in charge of NSC now?" asked Kala before creating a wall of flame between the marines and them.

"Crapski!" yelled Matt, firing again before shooting another shot at a manhole. "Go down or through laser rounds, your choice!" he yelled to their disgusted looks

With some reluctance, the gang jumped down the hole into the sewer. "There better not be mutant reptiles in there again," said Chip as he jumped.

Matt jumped down last, slamming a disc on the bottom of the remains of the sewer cover. "Let's just go, back to Central. Chip, get Newsnet, find out what the hell's going on."

"Working on it," said Chip, "It'll be hard to get a connection down here."

"Let's just go," said Matt, pushing the others round a corner before the sound of a riot foam grenade was heard, "And just to be clear, we are not supposed to be using walking speed."

Chip finally got a signal and gulped. "Looks like McNeil's settled in, he's blaming CPS," he said.

"WHAT?! How could he possibly blame us?" yelled Kala.

"The same way he tried to blame us at Antarctica," said Chloe.

"Shit..." muttered Matt before Leyton's voice was heard, "You can say that again. Everybody, scatter. Disperce and Black 13 are doing the same. We are leaving."

Just then, Matt got another call, "Yo, Cap, we gotta problem over here."

"Everyone's got the same problem, Dirt Boss, it's not just you," replied Matt.

"What's with the NSC? Dey're tryin' to break inta the shuttlebay and carpool," said Dune Runner, the sound of gunfire heard in the background.

"Ok, just...keep them out till we arrive. We're coming in via the utility section." said Matt

"Ya think it's time to bring the big green?" asked Dirt Boss.

"No, a gigantic robot would just make a bigger target from orbit. Besides, the civvies are freaked out enough as it is," said Matt.

"Gotcha mon," said Dune runner before signing off.

"We have to get to the Bladestorm yesterday!" snapped Matt.

Sue was heard saying, "Hey, what about me? I have a career."

"There's no time for a drop-off at Kauai and you can't really build a law firm if you're dead," said Matt.

Sue seemed to think about this before saying "I'm still being paid by the hour, right?"

"Seriously? Aren't you pushing the lawyer stereotype a little too much?" asked Chloe.

"Hey, blame Jumba, not me," said Sue.

"Fine, we'll pay you in cake, happy?" snapped Matt, the sounds of voices in pursuit already heard.

"Let's continue this conversation when we're safely out of orbit," said Chip.

...

"What kinda merc drives a red buggy?" said one of the NSC troopers, kicking the dune buggy in the motor pool.

"For that matter, who collects construction vehicle?" said another, looking at the six yellow and grey vehicles also parked there.

"I wouldn't touch them," said the Hawaiian girl they'd found in the base canteen. Most of the base had been empty when they'd gotten in, just a few of the mutant freaks and the girl.

"Those oil guzzlers? They're better off being smelted down for parts than taking up space in here," said one trooper.

A voice said, "What oil?"

The trooper said, "Those oil guzzlers."

His fellow said angrily "I didn't say anything...hey, this kid's an EXP mutant, she's got a holowatch."

"What? This old thing? I forgot I was even wearing it. I won it at an arcade," said the girl.

The trooper grabbed her wrist and pulled it up, showing the Nullspace barcode. "Bullshit," he snarled, only for the blue 'freak' to tackle him.

"Looks like we have some exterminating to do," said another trooper. Suddenly, the headlights on all the construction vehicles and the dune buggy lit up, momentarily blinding the troopers. When the lights went off again, the duo were gone. "What the hell was that...damn, and can you smell that?" said one trooper.

"Hey, we just got out of a sewer. What would you expect us to smell like, peaches and cream?" asked a voice.

"Erm, where's the Lieutenant?" asked one of the troopers, only for their missing member to fall from the roof, out cold.

"...Oh no." said another trooper before they all looked up to see three Avalarian dragons in the rafters.

"Dat's not all," said a robotic voice with a Jamaican accent as the dune buggy's rail flipped open to reveal blasters, "Ya scratched me paint too."

The troopers all looked at each other, guessing who the dragons were. "Ok, I surrender," said one trooper.

"What? We can't just surrender like that!" said the leader. However, the construction vehicles started revving their engines as well as a few glowing eyes appearing the shadows. "Actually, yes, we can just surrender," said the leader.

...

"Good news, Councilman McNeil. The mega-corps have pledged their support, especially Executive Genetics who are also requesting their trade ban be lifted," said an aide.

"Tell them I'll consider it in a few days, I have a few too many things to worry about right now," said McNeil.

"Sir, what about that Empire attack in sector 314? The local military's being overwhelmed and the teams arresting the local mercs are requesting they are allowed to engage," said the aide.

"I'm about to contact the Empire in a few minutes. I think I can convince them cease fire," said McNeil.

"Sir, I'm not sure about this. How can you be sure they'll take any offer you have?" said the aide, nervously.

"Oh, I'm quite certain I'll tell exactly what they want to here," said McNeil.

"Very well, sir. Your brother also reported. He and his team are in position," said the aide

"Excellent, Lynch is too much of a wild card to keep on the table. He either needs to be shuffled back into the deck or removed from play," said McNeil.

The aide simply nodded weakly. "Shall I confirm his mission?" he said.

McNeil smirked, "What do you think?"

...

Matt ran down the landing ramp of the North Star and looked around the bay. There wasn't just the crew, but a mix of Black 13 and Disperse Inc. too, mercs who had simply ran for ships and ended up here. "Ok, let's get out of here. I don't care about the direction, but after a few jumps, head for Dragon Eye. Least we know we'll be ok there," he said.

"And then what? NSC's out to get everyone now!" yelled someone from Disperse Inc.

"Avalar's an Atlantean world. They're neutral...unless you want to stay," called Matt. Nobody made any comment about going back. "Ok, it's going to be a long trip so everyone find a place to get comfortable," said Matt.

On cue the ship shook as something hit. "Captain, you'd better get up here," said a voice on the intercom.

"Why can't it just be a meteor shower?" muttered Matt as he headed for the bridge.

...

Matt walked into the command center to see it in uproar, several NSC ships firing on escaping merc cruisers while ignoring Empire ships.

"Well, this is something I probably could have anticipated but didn't want to think possible, said Matt.

"Incoming projectiles!" yelled a technician, the ship shaking just before it went to nullwarp, "Negative detonation, captain, musta been dud rounds."

"No, Empire doesn't fire duds, they're probably trackers or something," said Matt, "We better decouple them."

"No, it came from a NSC vessel," said the technician.

"That's even more worrying. I want whatever it is scraped off the hull, immediately," said Matt.

Another bridge crewman said, "Oh shit, intruder alert, decks 2 through 6. Shit...NSC marauders."

"Worse than trackers," said Matt before saying into the intercom, "We've got boarders, don't stop to ask questions, fire on sight."

...

A crewman slumped down, two smoking holes in his chest. "Team one, you got engineering, knock out their FTL. Team two, take the bridge. Everyone else, with me," said Capt Daniel McNeil of the NSC 'Marauder' boarding squads. Capt McNeil wasn't quite sure if he agreed with his brother's new policy with the Empire yet, but he had to admit, flaying these mercs was too much fun.

"This is team one...detouring through deck 4...hey...who turned out the-" said the voice on the comm of team one before a cry of 'MEEGA NALA QUEESTA' was heard and it cut off.

"Figures Lynch brought his menagarie," said Capt McNeil, "Stay alert, men. There's a shipload of freaks onboard."

"This is team two...we're pinned down on deck 9...need backup and dragonbuster rounds...NOW GODDAMN IT!" came another yell. Daniel glared and made a note to chew his brother out later for giving bad intel.

"Ok, hey, someone's coming," he said, ducking back to see a squad led, by Captain Lynch walk round the corner. He had heard plenty of stories about Lynch, more than enough to know why bringing him in is important. While he didn't have any dragonbuster rounds loaded right now, he hadn't heard anything about Lynch being bulletproof. So it was that he fired a cluster of AP rounds, felling several troopers and Matt, though only a couple were dead.

Lynch hissed in pain before saying, "I hate to admit it, but that was a good shot." He looked around to see his team being wiped out. NSC boarders were a whole other level. Luckily another team, led by Kala ran round the corner at that.

Kala took in one look at Matt's squad before screaming "MATT!" and running towards him.

"STOP! One more step and I blow his brains all over the deck," said Daniel, pressing a now dragonbuster-loaded blaster to Matt's head.

Kala glared at Daniel as her eyes became fiery red and flames engulfed her hands. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!" she shouted before throwing a fireball at Daniel.

Daniel rolled to the side, letting the fireball hit Matt instead. "Oops," he taunted before firing a few rounds at Kala. Kala gave a cry of pain and fury as the flames on her hands grew even bigger. She threw three fireballs at Daniel in quick succession. To his credit, Daniel only got a few grazing blows before he noticed Matt was still there, albeit out for the count.

He aimed at Matt to give him a more permanent injury when a shriek from Kala made him look up. The flames in her hands were even larger from before and seemed to have spread up her arms. In fact, it almost looked like they were made of fire. But then Kala pointed both hands forward and released a huge double flamethrower attack.

Matt simply averted his eyes before half a blaster, its back melted clean off fell to the deck. Matt looked up at the swirling ash in the air that was Daniel McNeil before saying, "Nice shot, Kala. I didn't know you could do something that intense." However, the heat in the corridor hadn't gone down. In fact, it seemed to be increasing.

Matt looked up to see Kala seemed to be almost completely alight. "Erm...Kala? Please turn the heat down before you breach the hull," he asked carefully, noticing the wall warping.

From his position on the floor, Matt could see a clear view of Kala's boots smoking before they suddenly burst into flames. The flames quickly traveled up her legs, burning through the material in their way, stopping only at her hips. However, instead of flesh, in legs now seemed to be made of solid fire. As Kala started floating off the floor, her hair suddenly ignited, becoming a torch atop her head.

"Erm...dear? Please don't melt the ship, we're still paying for it," tried Matt desperately. Kala looked down at Matt with her eyes of flame with a relatively calm look. What was really worrying to Matt was that there was very little recognition in her face.

On cue McNeil's team one ran into view, some covered in what appeared to be cream before seeing Kala. "Bloody hell, open fire!" yelled one.

The regular ammunition melted before they got close enough, but the dragonbuster rounds were able to get through Kala's superheated aura and grave her. That set her off again as she let out another inhuman shriek before combusting. The men had to cover their eyes before looking again. The pillar of flames danced in midair before forming into the shape of a woman with fiery hair and burning eyes.

Matt's voice from behind said angrily, "Now look what you did."

The fire elemental shrieked before sending a wave of flame at the troopers. Matt watched as the troopers were incinerated bar one. "Ok...Kala...KALA...STOP!" Matt said, watching in horror as Kala advanced on the survivor.

Matt managed to get to his feet, hissing with pain from the bullet wounds. Of course, that pain was secondary as he moved towards Kala and deeper into the heat. "Kala...this is not you...calm...down," he said, raising a plasma shield around his skin to keep himself from turning to ash.

Kala turned and hissed like him like burning logs. However, she didn't try to attack him, though she show almost no signs of recognizing him.

"Kala...it's me...I'm your friend...please," said Matt, desperately.

Kala's eyes seemed to soften a little and the heat around her faded a little, but the look she was giving Matt was little more than one would give something curious and intriguing.

"Kala? Come on...I won't lose you again," said Matt desperately, while making a mental note to gut the Atlantean who had added the Shar-Ekta upgrade.

The heat around her faded until it was only coming from her fiery skin. The emotion in her face now seemed to be forlorn, like she was trying to remember something but had trouble grasping it.

"Come on...come back to me," said Matt urgently before swearing to himself in splitter and kissing her. Matt could feel his lips blistering but he could also feel Kala's temperature rapidly dropping. However, he couldn't hold on too and eventually had to let go with a yelp.

Kala's flame dwindled before it suddenly went out, leaving her flesh and blood again. "Matt? What just happened? Why are you holding your mouth and screaming like that?" she asked before looking down at herself and yelling, "WHY AM I NAKED?!"

"You turbed ibdo a fire mobster," said Matt through burnt lips.

"A what?" demanded Kala as she tried to cover herself up.

"A bire modsber," Matt tried again before yelling "Sweb!"

"Matt, can you explain this to me where everyone won't be gawking at me?" asked Kala.

"Obey," said Matt, before his nanites finished healing. "You were hot...and that's not just a compliment," he said, the two walking to a side door.

Kala looked at Matt's still red lips and asked, "Did you try to kiss a furnace?"

"Yes," said Matt, a little sharply.

"But..." began Kala, only for Matt to say "Don't...I'll tell you once we're out of here."

...

With the death of their leader, along with their underestimation of the crew's capabilities, the troopers were easy to defeat, but the battle had its toll on the ship.

"Deck five's uninhabitable for now. Deck 9 appears to be...let's see here...flooded with coconut cream cake...Stiiitch?" said Matt, yelling the experiment's name.

"Well, at least it'll get cleaned up quickly," said NegaMorph, "The others are already working on it."

"Looks like McNeil's wise to the evac plan. All hyperjump points to Dragon Eye are blocked for 4 sectors," said Techo, gloomily

"Where are we supposed to go now?" asked Kala, who was wearing fresh clothes.

Matt pointed to an area of the Badlands, marked as 'unexplored'. "We could take the back way," he suggested

"Uh, Matt, you know those places are unexplored for a reason," said NegaMorph.

"It's that or death," said Matt grimly.

NegaMorph thought for a moment before shrugging, "Well, those blank spots in the map need to be filled up at some point, though we're hardly the image of explorers."

"We won't be sightseeing. I doubt there is just the one boarder team chasing us. So we need to be fast and quick," said Matt.

"Aren't fast and quick the same thing?" asked Morph.

"Quiet you," said Matt before squashing him.

…

NSC News Network Bulletin…

Following the attack on the High Council, Commander McNeil has assumed command of NSC until a new Council can be established. However, the formation of a new Council may take some time since McNeil has declared war upon the various mercenary corporations, particularly CPS, over their alleged involvement in the assassination of the High Council. However, Commander McNeil has managed to reach a truce with the Hamsterviel Empire which is already calling off attacks on several NSC fronts. What the truce entails is yet to be determined, but with both the Empire and NSC taking arms up against the mercenary corporations, many are starting to call this tragedy the start of the Second Nullspace Civil War.

* * *

And there's the final chapter. It's rather bittersweet, mostly bitter. Now that the gang have to deal with both the Empire and NSC under McNeil's command, things are even more heated for them. And who knows what lurks in the uncharted places on the edge of the starcharts? Either way, the gang's still in the thick of it.

Admittedly, this hasn't been one of my better stories, but it's an important transition one. The next story will be up in a few weeks, still need to iron out some of the details. Keep an eye out for the story when it eventually appears and please review.


End file.
